


The Path To Forever

by BellaLeigh



Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:42:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 72,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22923517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BellaLeigh/pseuds/BellaLeigh
Summary: What if Klaus didn't give up on Elijah and made him come home? What if Hayley didn't die? Could they have gotten their happily ever after despite everything? An Alternate History that rewrites everything from 5x03 on.
Relationships: Hayley Marshall/Elijah Mikaelson
Comments: 15
Kudos: 67





	1. "I Can't Do This Alone"

**Author's Note:**

> Klaus goes to bring Elijah home to get help finding Hayley. But, what is he going to do when the man who used to be his brother doesn't want to go?

  
  


He stood in the corner and watched her. The woman that the man who used to be his brother thought he wanted to marry. Watched as she searched through the coolers, looking for the bottle he was holding. The champagne she intended to celebrate her engagement with. Though, if he had anything to say about it, there wouldn’t be an engagement to celebrate. As much as he wanted Elijah to be happy, he would be damned if he would stand back and watch him throw forever away on any woman that wasn’t Hayley. Because he still had hopes that one day Freya or Hope would get rid of the Hollow and Marcel would give him his brother back.

Or, at least, that had been the hope for the past seven years. Until Hayley disappeared, and Hope became frantic enough to risk everything to get her back. Now, things had changed. Now they needed Elijah back, whether he was ready to come back or not. It was selfish, he knew that. He was dragging his brother back to a life where he still couldn’t be near his siblings, still couldn’t have a real life with the woman he loved. But, Klaus needed him. He couldn’t do this alone. And if anything happened to Hayley… If anything happened to Hayley, then they would lose Elijah permanently. No matter what happened with the Hollow after that wouldn’t matter. Because to get Elijah back after that would be to shatter his mind more than it already was. And he wouldn’t let anybody put him through that.

But first, Antoinette needed to be dealt with. And, as much fun as it could be to just rip her heart out and be done with it, perhaps a less… Klaus-like approach would do this time. “Looking for this?” He held up the bottle as she turned around. The look she gave him was satisfyingly terrified. He looked at the bottle in his hand. “1928 Clos Du Monet. Hmm. Pricey.” He smirked as he let go of the bottle to let it shatter on the ground at his feet. “Do you know who I am?” She should. They had met before. But, perhaps she had forgotten him.

“Someone who’s about to regret his hideous timing.” He had to hand it to her, she was brave. Or perhaps stupid. She took a couple steps towards him.

He vamp-sped to her, grabbed her by the throat, and pinned her to the cooler doors. “You’ve spent a handful of years with Elijah. You’ve treated him well. You’ve taken good care of him. I suppose I should be thanking you. But, alas, all good things come to an end. I’m afraid your services are no longer required. You see… I’m taking my brother home tonight.” He looked her in the eyes and let the power of his gaze wash over her. “You’re done with Elijah. You’re going to reject his proposal, and then you’re going to exit this bar and my brother’s life… forever. Do you understand?”

“I understand.”

He smiled, then. Yes, he had just broken Elijah’s heart. But, by this time tomorrow, that would hardly matter. Because once Marcel gave him his memories back, whatever he felt for Antoinette would pale in comparison to his love for Hayley. The man sitting at that piano would be heartbroken, but his brother would thank him for saving him from making the biggest mistake of his life. He watched Antoinette walk out of the kitchen, and he waited for his chance to deal with his brother.

And then the bar was empty. Only Elijah sat, still at the piano. Probably stunned at what had just happened. Klaus walked out. “Your name is Elijah Mikaelson. You may not remember yourself or your family, but we need your help. Our family is in crisis. I’ve come to take you back to New Orleans.”

If he was expecting a response, he was sadly disappointed. His brother’s only reaction was to start playing the piano, again. Perhaps Elijah was just in shock? “Say something, brother.”

Elijah stopped playing at that and shook his head. “I’m not your brother.”

“You are. And your family needs you home.”

“This is my home.”

He didn’t have time for this. With every passing minute the chance of saving Hayley slipped further and further away. And they still had to fly across an ocean, and get Marcel to undo what he did so that Elijah would care, again. “This is not a request. You will return with me, willingly or otherwise.” Because there was a dagger with Elijah’s name on it in Klaus’s pocket. Compulsion certainly had its uses, and getting airport security to ignore him bringing that dagger onto the plane was only one of them.

Elijah stood up and walked around the piano, then. “It’s gonna have to be otherwise.”

And then there was a flash of lightning, and a roll of thunder. And the power went out. Klaus looked up at that. Shit! He had a feeling this wasn’t a normal storm. He wondered how long they had before the voices started, again. Because his day wasn’t bad enough, yet. “We made a vow. Always and forever.”

“You’re talking about somebody else’s life.”

“No, this is still your life!” He was shouting. He didn’t care. They were running out of time. For Hayley. Before the Hollow started messing with them. And right now, he was feeling more than a bit homicidal. He didn’t know how much was his own werewolf temper, and how much was that _thing_ living inside him. “You have responsibilities! You cannot just abandon them for a fairy tale, playing piano in the French countryside!”

Elijah walked towards him, then. Kicking something out of his way hard enough to break it. “You think I’m just gonna stand by and watch as you destroy everything that I’ve built here?” He was shouting, too. Perfect.

Klaus pulled himself up to his full height. “Do you honestly think you have a choice?” He grabbed Elijah’s head, intending to snap his neck, to buy himself time.

He wasn’t expecting Elijah to fight back so well. The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air to crash into a table. There was the sound of breaking glass as whatever had been on that table fell off, and then Klaus was laying on the floor surrounded by that broken glass. Broken glass and something else. Were those maggots? Wonderful. Now they weren’t just dealing with weird weather, they had other not so fun things happening, too. He needed to get this over with. He pulled himself to his feet. “You have no idea the risk I’m taking, simply by being here! There are consequences to us being together! Don’t you see?” He waved his hand at the maggots on the floor.

“So leave!” Didn’t he understand? Didn’t he get that Klaus wouldn’t take this risk if it wasn’t important? No, he didn’t know him, but still. That anger, that rage, was coming from somewhere. Didn’t he feel it? Couldn’t he hear it whispering to him? How did he not understand that there was something bigger going on?

“I would never have come if the circumstances weren’t dire.”

“I don’t care. Your reasons don’t matter to me.”

“You once convinced me that Hayley’s life was worth saving, that my daughter’s life was worth saving. Please, Elijah. Hayley is missing.” And if there was even a scrap of Elijah Mikaelson still in there, _that_ would get his attention. “Hayley. Even in your addled state, that name must mean something to you!” He was going to cry. Him. Klaus Mikaelson. On the verge of tears. And he didn’t know if he was crying for Hayley, for his brother, or both.

Elijah walked towards him. Or rather, this stranger that was wearing Elijah’s skin did. “No more than the name Mikaelson.”

That did it. Klaus picked him up and slammed him onto a table. “We are your family! You love us. You love me.” Didn’t he? Or had everything Elijah had done to try to save Klaus from himself been motivated, not by love, but by guilt and a sense of responsibility? Was it never anything more than atonement?

And then he screamed as something was slammed into his back. A stake. Well, that was inconvenient. Though, thankfully nothing more than an inconvenience. He reached around and pulled it out, then stood up and followed them.

He found them as Antoinette was explaining to Elijah that he can’t die, and the stake… “Was quite an inconvenience.” He held up his arm to show them the stake, and then let go, letting it clatter to the floor. “Unless you’d like me to return the favor, love, I suggest you run along.”

Antoinette said nothing. It was Elijah that responded. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Maybe it was time to change tactics. He put his hands together as if he was praying. In a way, he was. “I’m begging you, brother. You may not think you know me. Or Rebekah, or Kol, or Freya, or Hope, or even Hayley. But we are your family.” He walked closer to his brother. “Everyone you love needs you now. Please, Elijah.”

“Everyone I love is right here.” Elijah reached up and put his hand on top of Antoinette’s, his meaning quite clear.

He could hear whispering, now. Faint, but there. How long did he have? How long before it suddenly started to seem like a good idea to collect Rebekah and Kol before going back to New Orleans? At this point, if Elijah had agreed, it would have worried him. “Forgive me, brother.” He whispered. And then he vamp-sped the few feet between them, and slammed the dagger into Elijah’s chest.

He caught him as he fell, and then turned his attention to Antoinette. “Now then, what to do about you? Killing you hardly seems like a fair way to repay you for keeping him safe and mostly sane for the past seven years. And yet, I can hardly turn my back on you, lest I need to worry about another stake.” He laid Elijah gently on the ground. “So, I suppose a compromise is in order.”

She had been backing away from him while he talked, and managed to back up to the wall. He smiled. And then he reached up and snapped her neck. Well, that was one problem down. As he carried his brother out to the waiting hearse behind the bar and put him in the coffin, he considered his other problem. Because the bigger issue was the weather, and the voices, and those damn maggots. At this point, he didn’t trust a plane to actually make it to New Orleans if they were both on it.

He drove to the airport in Marseilles and compelled Elijah’s coffin onto the first flight to New Orleans. Even got it added to the manifest so that nobody would question it at the other end. Once that was taken care of, he called Marcel. “I’m sending you a present. You’ll need to go to New Orleans to get it. It’s a little broken at the moment, though. I’m going to need you and either Freya or Vincent to fix it for me.”

“Have you lost your mind, Klaus? You’re sending Elijah to New Orleans?”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Hayley is missing. I need Elijah to help me find her. Please, Marcel. Hope has already lost me. She can’t lose her mother, too.”

“I don’t quite know what you hope to accomplish by getting Elijah’s help, but, knowing you it’s already too late to talk you out of it. So, yeah. I’ll go pick him up and give him his memories back. And hopefully the two of you won’t burn New Orleans down or something.”

“Thank you.” He ended the call and then compelled his way onto another plane. This one had a layover, but it was still faster than waiting for the next direct flight. In twenty hours, he and Elijah would both be back. He just prayed that they wouldn’t already be too late.


	2. A Thousand Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elijah wakes up in New Orleans and is given his memories back. But, is his sanity up to having a thousand years' worth of memories thrown at him at once?

He woke up in a coffin. He sat up. “Where the Hell am I?”

“You’re in New Orleans. Because your brother is an idiot who apparently doesn’t care if the world burns.”

“Enough, Marcel. Klaus isn’t thinking clearly. And, from what I understand, Elijah has always been the one he turned to when he needed help. A thousand years of habit is hard to break.”

“Yeah. But, what in the world does he think Elijah can do?”

“Who knows? But, he’s here. So, let’s give him his memories back. The sooner we find Hayley, the sooner Klaus will calm down and realize that he’s an idiot. And the sooner Klaus and Elijah can once again go their separate ways. Hopefully before things start going horribly wrong.” The woman held her hand out to him. “Come on, little brother. Let’s get you the rest of the way back.”

He shook his head. “I’m not your brother. And all I want, right now, is to go home to my fiancee.”

The woman looked stricken. “Fiancee?” She looked at the man she had called Marcel. “Did you know about this?”

“No. All Klaus told me was that he was sending me a present, but it was a little broken and he needed the two of us to fix it for him.”

“Well, this could get interesting.” She looked at Elijah. “Look, the sooner you let us do what we need to do so you can help our brother find his daughter’s mother, the sooner we can get you back to that fiancee of yours. Okay? We need your help, Elijah. Neither Hope or I can find her by scrying. I honestly don’t know what Klaus thinks you can do. But… even if all you can do is keep him from going even more off the deep end than he already is… Well… that is something that only you can do.”

“So, I help talk your brother down, help him find this woman, and then I can go back to Manosque?” It seemed too simple. There had to be some kind of catch. There was no way they were really going to just let him go home after everything they went through to get him there.

She nodded. “Yeah. If you still want to go back to Manosque once we’ve found Hayley, nobody will stop you. Not even Klaus.”

Marcel snorted. “Yeah. Because if he still wants to go back after he remembers Hayley, there’s really no point in keeping him here.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll find out, soon. Come on.”

He climbed out of the coffin then, and sat on the chair they directed him to. And then the woman started chanting. After a few minutes, Marcel looked him in the eyes and started talking. “Remember, Elijah. Remember your family. Remember always and forever. Remember Hayley. Open the door in your mind where you hide the worst parts of yourself, and let it all come back.”

And then he was in a corridor. A long white corridor lined with white doors. At the end of the hallway there was another door. A different one. This one was red, battered and old-looking. Something was drawing him to that door. Apparently that was the door that he was being told to open. But, there was something on the other side of it. Something he wasn’t sure he wanted to face.

A voice came from behind the door. A woman’s voice. “Elijah, stop!” Something inside him knew that voice. And knew that remembering how he knew it was going to hurt. He didn’t want to open that door. He had shoved everything in there for a reason.

But, he didn’t have a choice. Some force that was stronger than his own will was pushing him towards that door. Towards whatever was on the other side of that door. He took a deep breath. And then he opened the door.

And got hit by a tidal wave of memories and emotions. A thousand years worth. It was too much. He felt like his head was going to explode. Or like he was drowning. He searched his mind for an anchor, a liferaft. Something he could cling to while trying to process this. And he found her. Hayley. The woman he had loved from the moment he had laid eyes on her.

Images flashed through his mind. Almost too quickly to register. But, while his mind couldn’t process all of them just yet, his heart welcomed them. Seeing her for the first time. Their first kiss. Making love to her. And smaller things. Simple things. Dancing with her at a party. The soft smile he would sometimes catch her giving him. Knowing that his own expression mirrored it.

How could he have forgotten her? How could even Marcel have erased her, not just from his mind, but from his heart? How could anything have erased the love he had felt for her, still felt for her? But, no. He had seen her again. Five years ago. He had been drawn to her in a way he hadn’t understood at the time. But, he did now. His mind hadn’t known her. But his heart… his heart had recognized its other half.

There were other memories, too. Not all of them were pleasant. There was pain there, too. Horrible things they had both said and done to each other. Things that maybe they would never be able to come back from. The reason he had left the way he did. But, he pulled his memories of her to himself, and clung to them.

And then he was able to pick other memories out. His siblings. Niklaus, Rebekah, Kol, Freya. The vow he, Niklaus, and Rebekah had made to each other a thousand years ago. Always and forever. Oh, things hadn’t always been good between them, either. But, they were a thousand years old. And for a thousand years, they only had each other. Of course there would sometimes be anger and resentment. But, even at their worst moments it had always been tempered by love.

And then other things. Other people. A baby. Hope. The first time Niklaus and Hayley had seen her after months of her being hidden away. Bringing Hope to see Hayley every month on the full moon. Watching her first steps, hearing her first words.

Marcellus. The little boy Niklaus had connected with, bonding over their shared experience of having fathers who hated them. And who grew up to become the man Rebekah loved.

Camille. The brave little bartender who got sucked into a world beyond human comprehension and yet held her own. One of the few people who could stand her ground against Niklaus at his worst. She had paid for her loyalty to his family with her life. And yet, the effect she had had on his brother was second only to little Hope.

Davina. The little witch who had finally tamed Kol. She had done more to make him feel loved and worthy than even his own siblings had. Someday, Elijah needed to make amends to both of them. But, for now, it was enough to know that they were there.

And then, surrounded by his family, he forced himself to face the rest. The reason that door had existed in the first place. A thousand years of being a monster, hiding behind an immaculate suit. The people he had killed. Too many over the centuries to count. But, there were two that were harder to watch than the others. Tatia. And Marcellus.

At some point while remembering he had closed his eyes. He opened them now, looked into the eyes of the man whose heart he had once ripped out. “I’m so sorry, Marcellus. I am so, so sorry. I… I can’t remember if I ever apologized. I… I was running scared. If it had just been about me… But it wasn’t. I couldn’t watch Niklaus and Rebekah die. And I couldn’t take the chance that what was coming was going to hurt Hayley or Hope. I’m sorry.” It wasn’t enough. Wasn’t nearly enough. They were going to have to sit down and talk about it. He knew that, and was not looking forward to it.

But then there were arms around him. “I know. I know, Elijah. I don’t know if I’ll ever fully forgive you, but I understand. I love them, too. If the situation was reversed I probably would have done the same thing.”

He couldn’t stop crying. There was too much. A thousand years was more than the human mind had been designed to deal with to begin with. Having all of it thrown at him at once was more than he could process. It was all too much.

But then one thing bobbed to the surface of his mind. A memory, not of Elijah Mikaelson, but of Elijah Smith. “Hayley is missing.” No. Please God, no.

“Hayley. Where is Hayley?”

“We don’t know.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know? You’re a witch. You’re a first born Mikaelson witch. Scry for her. There has to be something you can do.” He wasn’t being fair. He knew that. But he couldn’t help it. If he didn’t embrace the anger, he would be overwhelmed by fear and grief. Anger would fuel him, give him the energy to do his part to get Hayley back. Fear and grief would shut him down. He didn’t have time for fear and grief, right now.

“Scry for her. Why didn’t Hope or I think of that? I’m so glad that you’re home to make sure we do the absolute minimum to find my best friend and Hope’s mother.”

“Freya, chill. Can’t you see that he’s a wreck?”

“I’m sorry, Freya. I just… I just had a thousand years worth of memories thrown at me. Including shattering the woman I love’s heart into a million pieces. And one of the last things I remember before waking up here is being told that she’s missing. So, forgive me for being a bit frazzled, right now.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry, too. You aren’t the only one who is a wreck. Let’s face it, Klaus was worried enough to risk everything to go get you. We’re all spread really thin and getting ready to snap. But… That doesn’t give us the right to snap on each other. Right now, we’re all we have. Welcome home, little brother.”

Elijah stood up and took his sister into his arms. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry.”

She pulled away and wiped at her eyes. “There’s time for that later. Right now, we need to find Hayley. I have no idea what Klaus’s plan is. I honestly don’t know if Klaus knows what Klaus’s plan is. I think he was hoping you would have one.”

“Unfortunately, right now, I don’t. You heard me. All I can think of is the obvious, bare minimum.”

“And me, Hope, and half the witches in Caroline’s school are already on that. We’re trying, Elijah. I promise you that. We are trying.”

“I know. But, I can’t help you with that part. So, I guess it’s time for me to find out why I’m home.” But, he noticed Freya exchanging a look with Marcel that chilled him to the bone. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Freya took a shuddering breath. “A box came, while Klaus was gone getting you. Brought by a messenger that killed himself as soon as the box was put in my hands.”

He wasn’t going to like this. He knew that. But, he had to hear it. “What was in the box?”

She took his hand. “Come on. It would be easier if I show you.” And she led him up the stairs and into the living room. She pointed at the small box on the table, but didn’t say anything.

Elijah picked up the box with trembling hands and opened it. His heart clenched and his stomach churned as he saw what was inside. It was a piece of skin. Small, but recognizable. The birthmark he had told Hayley so many times to keep covered. Until she had found her people and that mark became a badge of honor. Technically, it could have belonged to any member of Hayley’s pack. But, he wasn’t naive enough to really believe that. Whoever had taken Hayley had mutilated her to send a message. He brushed his finger over the patch of skin. “I am so sorry, my love”, he whispered. He looked up at Freya. “Does Niklaus know about this?”

Freya nodded. “He hasn’t seen it, because he’s been staying away from you. But I couldn’t not tell him.”

“Right. Well, I should probably call him and see what his plan is.” He reached for his phone, and then realized that he wouldn’t have Klaus’s number programmed in it, and didn’t have it memorized. “Except I don’t actually know how to reach him.”

Freya actually laughed, though the laughter didn’t quite reach her eyes. and took his phone out of his hand and dialed for him before handing it back. “Here you go. After you talk to him, I’ll program my number into it, too. And give you Rebekah’s and Kol’s.”

“And mine.”

He opened his mouth to apologize, for what, he wasn’t really sure, but then there was a voice on his phone. “Hello?”

“Niklaus. Tell me you have a plan, brother.”

“I’m with Caroline. Hope has run off with another student on her own rescue mission. Since scrying isn’t working, we’re trying a more modern method to at least find Hope, and having their cell phones traced. It’s best if you and I don’t spend too much time together. But, I promise you that once I have any information, I will bring you in on this, too. The Hollow be damned.”

“Keep me and Freya informed. I’m going to see if there is anything I can do from here.”

“All right. Well, if you get any ideas…”

“I’ll call you.”

“Good. Talk to you soon. And Elijah? Welcome back.”

Elijah ended the call and then looked at his sister. “Okay. Since scrying isn’t working, we need to go to more human ways of tracking people. Niklaus and Caroline are tracing Hope’s cell phone. Has anybody seen if the wolves can help at all?”

“Unfortunately, Keelin is out of the country. So, our best liaisons with them would have been Hayley or Hope.”

“Perfect. Well, I guess I should see if any of them will talk to me. For her sake.” He ran a hand over his eyes. “Niklaus will keep us both informed on his and Caroline’s progress. I… I don’t know what to do. There have only been two times in my entire very long life that I have ever been this frightened, and felt this helpless. And both of those times were when I thought that Hayley was dead or dying. I can’t go through that again, Freya. I can’t.”

“I know. I know. We’ll find her. We’ll get her back. It’s going to be okay. We have to believe that. It’s going to be okay.”

He took a shuddering breath, and then nodded. “I’m going to go for a walk. See if I can think of something useful I can do while I’m waiting for Niklaus and Caroline to have news for me.” And then he turned and walked out the door. He didn’t need his sister, right now. He needed the one person that wasn’t there. He needed Hayley.


	3. Goodbye, Little Wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus and Elijah find Hayley, but not before her werewolf side gets bound. Hayley and Elijah talk, but a misunderstanding on Elijah's part drives a wedge between them that he's not ready to deal with just yet.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Time stopped having any meaning for him. He had no idea how long he spent wandering the city, hoping that something would stand out to him, trigger something that might give him a clue as to where Hayley could be. At one point, Niklaus called to tell him that they had found Hope’s phone, on the side of the road. Apparently, she had realized that when scrying didn’t work, they would try tracing the phone. And she didn’t want to be found. He scoffed. The girl was certainly a Mikaelson. That could not be denied. It was a few hours later when the call he was waiting for came.

“Caroline just got a call from the school. The cloaking spell on Hayley just broke. I’m texting you the coordinates. Meet me there. We found her, brother. We found her.”

A minute later, his phone beeped, telling him he had a text message. He looked at it and then started running. It was an old abandoned farmhouse far outside of the city. There was nothing there to set it apart from any other farmhouse in the world. Except for just how remote it was.

He met Niklaus and Caroline on the porch. “Miss Forbes.”

“It’s Mrs Salvatore, actually.” She smiled. “Though, you can just call me Caroline. Welcome back, Elijah.”

“Do we know why and how the cloaking spell broke?”

“No idea. I’m not sure I like it, to be honest. Hope didn’t break it. Because the one on her and Roman is still up.”

Niklaus shook his head. “Well, plenty of time for speculation after we get Hayley back. Caroline, I want you to stay out here, for now.” When she looked ready to protest, he cut her off. “Don’t make me compel you. I need somebody watching our backs, and somebody I can trust to look after Hope once I get her out of there. Please, Caroline?” She nodded and he looked at Elijah. “Are you ready for this, brother?”

Elijah nodded at his brother, and they walked into the house together. The sight in front of him chilled Elijah to the bone. Hope was passed out in Roman’s arms, and Hayley… his beautiful Hayley was pinned to the wall.

“Elijah…”

Unfortunately, Greta took advantage of Hayley’s moment of distraction to plunge her hand into her chest. This just got a lot more complicated.

Elijah didn’t think. He just vamp-sped to them, and snapped Greta’s neck. Then immediately wrapped one arm around her waist and grabbed the wrist that had been plunged into Hayley’s chest with his other hand. Holding her still to keep Hayley safe. “A little help here, Niklaus!”

“I’m supposed to be the one who acts without thinking. You are supposed to be our voice of reason.”

“Can the brotherly banter wait until after this bitch’s hand is out of my chest, please?”

Elijah had to smile at that. He had always loved Hayley’s snark. Even when it was directed at him. She fit in with the rest of the family so well.

Then Niklaus was there, his hands on Hayley’s shoulders. Elijah locked eyes with Hayley. “I’m going to need you to move forward a bit, give him room behind you. We’re going to go slow, because we need to stay in sync. If her hand moves…” He tried not to think of what could still happen. “You ready?” When she nodded, he lifted a foot. “And step. Step.” One agonizingly tiny step at a time. It seemed to take forever before Niklaus finally slipped behind Hayley and put his arms around her waist.

Elijah shifted his focus from Hayley’s eyes to his brother’s. “We can’t do this with them standing. Help me lower them to the floor.” Niklaus nodded. And then, eyes locked on each other, they slowly lowered themselves until they were kneeling on the floor, taking the women with them. And then just as slowly lowered them sideways until they were laying on the floor, with Hayley on her back, and Greta on her side. Elijah holding her in position.

Niklaus took a shuddering breath. “Now for the hard part. I’m sorry love. This is going to hurt. Elijah. Are you ready?”

Elijah nodded and locked his wrist, elbow, and shoulder, holding Greta’s arm so that it wouldn’t shift. And watched as his brother stuck his hand in Hayley’s chest. It was nerve-wracking, watching this, hearing Hayley’s cries of pain. He didn’t even have a free hand to hold Hayley’s hand with, because he had to keep Greta still. And it had to be slow going. Niklaus could only move one finger at a time, or risk damaging Hayley’s heart more.

Finally, Niklaus nodded at him. “Now.”

Elijah pulled and separated the women. He looked at Hayley and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her nod. And then he looked down at the unconscious woman in his arms. Ripping her heart out was too good for her, it was too quick. He grabbed her other hand and ripped her finger sporting her daylight ring off.

“Wait. Let me get Hayley to safety first.”

Elijah didn’t know what his brother meant by that, but he nodded at him and watched as Niklaus carried Hayley into the other room. And then he opened the front door and tossed Greta onto the porch. And watched in satisfaction as she burst into flames.

“Jesus, Elijah! Warn a girl before you do that!”

“Sorry, Caroline. Not exactly thinking clearly, right now. You can come in, now.”

He walked into the other room where Roman was still cradling Hope. And Niklaus was holding onto Hayley. “Are they okay?”

“I think Hope will be okay. My mother had some kind of sleeping powder that she knocked her out with. But, it’ll wear off.”

“And Hayley is a vampire. Her heart is intact. The rest will heal. Mostly.” Elijah wanted to ask what that meant, but Niklaus’s attention had already turned to Caroline. “Caroline, can you please take Hope and Roman both back to school? Keep them separate until somebody can find out just how much Roman was actually involved in this.”

“Of course.” She took Hope from Roman and ran out of the house. Roman followed her, leaving the Mikaelsons alone with Hayley.

Who gave Elijah a sad smile, before turning to Niklaus. “I guess you figured it out, huh? It looks like I’m not your little wolf, anymore.”

And then it clicked. Hayley’s werewolf side had been bound. She wasn’t a hybrid, anymore. And he couldn’t help but wonder. If he had gotten to New Orleans sooner, if all it had taken to get him home was a phone call. If his brother didn’t have to waste an entire day, flying to France and then arguing with him. If he hadn’t had his memories erased, would they have found her sooner? Would she still be a wolf?

“You’ll always be my little wolf, Hayley. Always and forever.”

Elijah’s heart clenched at that. But, before he could say or do anything, Niklaus kissed Hayley’s temple and then stood up. He walked back into the front room, and bent down to pick up Greta’s daylight ring. “I’m going to take this to Freya, to see if she can get it respelled for Hayley. Which will give the two of you a chance to talk. Hayley, I won’t leave town without seeing you again. And Elijah… call me, okay? Don’t leave us again. I… we all need you too much.” And then he was gone.

Which left Elijah alone with Hayley. Who he had no idea what he was supposed to say to. He had no idea where to even begin to apologize for all the ways he had hurt her. What he wanted to do was put his arms around her and kiss her. But, he didn’t have that right. Not anymore. He had left her. And she wasn’t his, anymore.

Because three phrases kept chasing themselves around in circles inside his head. “Your little wolf”. “My little wolf”. “Always and forever”. He had abandoned them. Abandoned both of them. And it wasn’t fair to them to try to make everything go back to the way it used to be.

“Are you going to talk to me, or just sit there and stare until your sister gets here?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve had a very rough couple of days.”

She laughed at that. “I can imagine. Elijah, I…”

“Shh… You don’t need to say anything. It’s okay. I understand.” Because he wasn’t ready to hear the words. He wasn’t ready to have Hayley tell him that he was too late. That he had broken her heart one too many times.

“I don’t know what it is you think you understand, but okay. We can talk later. Hope is going back to school, so once I finish talking to Klaus and send him home, there’s no reason you can’t come to New Orleans. We can talk then.”

He didn’t say anything. But, he knew that he wouldn’t be going back to New Orleans. It was over, and he needed to accept that. But, the last thing he wanted was to have to listen to her saying the words.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, he decided that while there were things he wasn’t ready to hear——things they weren’t ready to say to each other——there were other things that they _could_ talk about. “Hope is beautiful. She looks so much like you.”

Hayley smiled. “Oh, there is definitely quite a bit of Klaus in her, too. But, yeah. Caroline jokes around sometimes about never mind putting the fear of God in boys’ heads, she’s going to have to start putting the fear of Klaus Mikaelson in their heads.”

He laughed at that. “Yes, I don’t know that even God Himself is more terrifying than my little brother when he’s on a rampage. God! She’s what? Fifteen? That seems so strange to me.”

“Honestly, it’s a little strange to me, too, and I watched it happen. But, sometimes, I look at her, and I still see my baby. I have trouble wrapping my head around the idea that my baby isn’t really a baby, anymore. I can only imagine what it must be like for you and Klaus.”

“Well, obviously it’s different for him. But, for me it’s like I blinked, and that little girl I once…” He trailed off, not wanting to remind Hayley of the plans they had once made together, his dream of becoming Hope’s stepfather and helping to raise her. “She’s a young woman, now. I mean, not completely grown up, not by today’s standards. But close enough that it hardly matters. And I missed all of it.” He brushed at the tears escaping from his eyes. “I didn’t even get to watch her grow up in phone calls, and pictures. Because I threw everything away. And I don’t think I realized…”

She stood up and walked over to him, taking him into her arms. He clung to her while he cried over everything he had lost. “Shh… It’s okay. You’re here, now. You’re here now, and it’s going to be okay.”

Except it wasn’t going to be okay, not really. He could get the rest of his family back, assuming they ever forgave him for abandoning them. But, Hayley was gone. And he could hardly blame her. He had been selfish, so caught up in his own pain, that he didn’t stop to consider that he would be hurting them. He couldn’t imagine what it had been like for Marcel to tell his baby sister that he had left them. That there weren’t going to be any phone calls, or letters from him, because he didn’t know who they were.

Much less what it had been like for whoever drew the short straw and had to tell Hayley. “I can’t ask you to forgive me. What I did was unforgivable. But, I am sorry for hurting you. I…” He needed to change the subject. And get her back to her own side of the room before he did something he would regret. “I’m okay. Or at least I will be.” He reached up and unwrapped her arms from around him. “Really, Hayley, I’m fine.”

She looked hurt, but she moved back over to where she had been sitting before, and sat back down. “But, yeah. She’s fifteen. Learning how to drive, which is the scariest thing in the world, to me. Caroline laughs at me about it. Hope could control the damn car from the backseat if she wanted to. So, why her learning how to drive should scare me is anybody’s guess.”

He shrugged. “Because it’s normal. She’s an extremely powerful witch. She’s going to be a werewolf, someday. Eventually she’ll be a vampire. And any one of those things is objectively a lot more frightening than letting her behind the wheel of a car. But, learning to drive is such a normal thing, that when you think about it, you get to be a normal mother of a teenager, with normal concerns. It makes a kind of sense. Add in that you can’t control any of the rest of it, but you have some control over that, and of course that’s going to be the thing you let yourself get worried about.”

“I’ve missed this. Talking to you. I’ve missed you.”

“I’m sorry. There really are no words for how sorry I am.” But, he wasn’t really ready for that conversation, either. “So, I know what Niklaus has been up to while I was gone.” She started at that, and opened her mouth to say something. But he still wasn’t ready to hear it. He didn’t want her explanations. Not yet. Maybe not ever. “But, what about the others? Have Marcel, Keelin, and Davina made honest men and women out of them, yet?”

“Kol and Davina are married. Got married shortly after you all scattered. Marcel was there. Marcel and Rebekah were together for a while. Until he proposed. Told her not to answer him right away, but if her answer was yes to meet him at the courthouse on a certain day and time.”

“And she didn’t go.”

“Oh. She went. She at least gave him the courtesy of turning him down to his face and not just standing him up.”

He closed his eyes. “I am definitely going to have to have a talk with that girl, soon. Find out what the heck she was thinking. I would say that I hope that he can forgive her, but… it’s Marcel and Rebekah. They’ve been on and off for two hundred years, and somehow keep finding their way back to each other. They’ll get through this, too.”

“I hope so. I really do. I so want them to be happy. She won’t tell me what her problem is. Won’t even tell Freya. But, maybe she’ll tell you. After all, you were the one who was there for her and with her for a thousand years. She might be more willing to talk to you than to the rest of us.”

“And Freya?”

She shrugged. “Freya is… a Mikaelson. And an oldest child. Weight of the world on her shoulders. Between doing her part to keep New Orleans from imploding, and trying to figure out a way to get her family back, she hasn’t really given herself a chance to even think about what she might want for herself. I think she loves Keelin. I think they’d be very happy together, if she would just… stop being a firstborn Mikaelson for five minutes and let herself just be a person in her own right.”

“So, you’re saying that I need to have a little chat with _both_ of my sisters about their love lives, huh? I guess it’s far past time that I took the mantle of Mikaelson family patriarch back up. I’ve shirked my duties to all of them long enough.”

She looked down for a minute, and when she lifted her head to look at him again, she was looking very pensive. “Elijah, there’s something I need to tell you.”

He shook his head. “Don’t. Please, Hayley. Just don’t. It’s okay. Really. I understand. You don’t… you don’t have to say anything.”

“You know, I can’t help thinking that you and I are having two different conversations, here.”

Before Elijah could get up the courage to ask her what she meant by that, the outside door opened and he heard Freya calling them from the other room. “Elijah? Hayley? I have Hayley’s Daylight Ring, here.”

He stuck his head through the doorway. “We’re in here, Freya. Keeping Hayley out of the way of the windows, and the door.”

Freya walked over to Hayley and handed her the ring. “Here. This one is temporary. We’ll get you a setting that’s more your style to put the stone in later. But, this will get you home, and keep you safe until then.”

“Thanks, Freya.” She put the ring on and just stared at it.

Elijah’s heart clenched. That was the other thing they avoided talking about. Just what they were sitting here waiting for, and why it was necessary. The fact that Hayley was no longer a hybrid. She had hated being turned into a hybrid because she had missed the ‘nobility of being a wolf’. But, at least then, she had still been a wolf. And once she had learned to reconcile both sides of herself she had been formidable. And now she had lost that. Because of him. Because it took so long to get him.

He stood up and walked over to her, bent down, and kissed her on the cheek. “I guess I should get going. Be happy, Hayley. Be happy, and have the life you deserve.” He turned to Freya and took her into his arms. “I’m sorry for what I did. For just walking away like that. It won’t happen again. I’ll call you once I get back to France, let you know how to contact me. And I’ll do the same for the others. I love you.”

He had to get out of there before being so close to Hayley and not having her in his arms made him go mad. Made him say something he shouldn’t, something she didn’t want to hear. She had moved on, and he had to let her. So, one more glance at Hayley to make sure her new ring was firmly on her finger, and then he opened the door and walked out.

Once the door was closed behind him, he ran at full vamp-speed. He wasn’t even sure what direction he was going. He just needed to get far away. He eventually stopped, crumpled to the ground, and cried. She was gone. If it had been anyone but Niklaus, he might have stayed, fought for her. But his brother deserved to finally have someone choose him. But, damn was it hard. Knowing that the thing that made the two people he loved the most happy was the very thing that shattered his own heart into a million pieces. But, he had done this to himself. If he hadn’t left her the way he did… He had done this to himself.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hayley watched Elijah walk out the door, and then slid to the ground. It was over. It was really over. She had lost him. Until this moment, she had been able to fool herself. Been able to convince herself that once Freya and Hope figured out a way to deal with the Hollow and Marcel brought Elijah home, they would be able to fix things. They would be able to sit down and have the talk they hadn’t had time for. She would have a chance to apologize for hurting him. They would find their way back to each other. It had been a beautiful fairy tale.

But, now she knew. It was just a fairy tale. She looked up at Freya. “That was Elijah. That wasn’t some stranger wearing Elijah’s skin. That was Elijah. He’s back.”

Freya nodded. “Klaus went into a panic and went and got him. Marcel and I undid the compulsion. He’s back.”

“That was really him. And he just walked away from me like I… Like I’m nothing to him.”

“Hayley…”

“No. Not nothing. I’m his niece’s mother. A member of his family. But, everything else we used to be to each other is gone. He chose her. He remembers me, remembers how he used to love me. And he’s going back to her. He’s gone, Freya. I’ve lost him.” She put her face in her hands and cried.


	4. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus starts making plans to try to fix the mess that his family has become, and Hayley breaks up with Declan

**~The Path To Forever~**

Klaus watched Freya respell the stone in Greta’s Daylight Ring to work for Hayley. It was oddly quick. “Are you sure that it’s done? That it will work for her?”

“This spell was invented by our mother. I got it directly from her own grimoire. And if anyone can get it to work, it’s me. I’m sure, Klaus. Thanks for that vote of confidence, though. I really appreciate it.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just feeling a bit punchy, is all.”

“Yeah, well… Maybe if you had been around a bit more. Hope missed you. So did I.”

“Don’t Freya. I know how much of this is my fault. I don’t need your reminders.”

“Sorry. You aren’t the only one feeling a bit punchy. Now, I have to go give my best friend a ring that she shouldn’t need.” And then she was gone, leaving Klaus alone with his thoughts.

His thoughts, and a box. A box that he did not want to open. He stared at it for several minutes, trying to get up the courage to open it. He already knew what was in it. He picked the box up and put his hand on the lid. But, he couldn’t bring himself to open it. To face what had been done to Hayley. Because of him. Because one of his many enemies found the two people he cared about that were the most vulnerable.

But, he couldn’t run from this, forever. He was going to have to face the price Hayley had paid for being a Mikaelson in everything but name eventually. He took a deep breath and opened the box. And stared at the small patch of skin nestled inside. The crescent moon birthmark that all of Hayley’s pack bore.

Had he seen this earlier, he might have let himself be fooled into thinking it might not have actually been Hayley’s. But, he had stood behind her today to help Elijah lower her and Greta to the floor. He had seen the angry scar where this birthmark had been.

That might heal, eventually. After all, she was a vampire. Though, the witch who did this to her might also have hexed it to keep it from healing properly. And, even if it healed, what it had stood for was gone, now. And there was no healing that. She would never allow the ritual necessary to unbind her werewolf side.

Though, Klaus might not give her a choice. Somewhere, there had to be a werewolf and vampire who deserved to die to fix Hayley. It was actually a shame that Elijah had already killed Greta. Using her as the vampire in the unbinding ritual to undo what she herself had done would have been quite fitting. Not that he blamed his older brother for wanting the woman who had hurt Hayley dead.

Of course, the other problem with this was the lack of doppelgangers. So, obviously the spell used to unbind Klaus wasn’t going to work. It was a shame that Katherine had been killed. She had been human again, after all. It would have been a beautiful irony to have her escape from him five hundred years ago, just to be used in that same ritual to save Hayley.

Then again, they hadn’t used doppelganger blood to bind her, so maybe they wouldn’t need doppelganger blood to unbind her. He still couldn’t be around Hope. And now that Elijah was back, he couldn’t stay in New Orleans, either. Somewhere, there had to be a witch who knew how to undo this. He would make it his mission to find them. And, while he was at it, it was past time that more of them besides Freya and Davina looked for a way to get rid of the Hollow so that they could be a family again.

Especially since he wouldn’t be surprised if Vincent was sabotaging Freya’s efforts as a way to keep the rest of the Mikaelsons away from New Orleans. It was no secret that he hated all of them. Klaus was actually surprised that he tolerated Freya, Hayley, and Hope.

So, while Klaus looked for a way to get Hayley back, he would look for a way to get his family back, too. He was going to make everything right, again. After all, it was mostly his fault that things were such a mess. Maybe it should be up to him to fix it.

But, apparently he had spent way too much time thinking about this. Because Freya and Hayley came in, then. And Hayley looked like she had been crying. Before he could ask her if she was going to be okay, and tell her not to worry because he was going to find a way to fix this, she had stormed off up the stairs. He heard a door slam a minute later. Part of him wondered how it had taken so long. But, that was a question for later. The more pressing concern was why she was slamming doors to begin with.

“Okay, what was that about? I mean, I understand that she’s been through Hell. And nobody knows better than I do how much a werewolf binding hurts. But… she seemed mostly fine when I left her and Elijah together. And she’s been with Elijah this whole time. I expected her mood to have improved, not gotten worse.”

Freya sat down with a sigh. “Our brother is an idiot. That’s pretty much the only explanation I can think of, right now. I honestly have no idea what can possibly be going on in that man’s head.”

Klaus sat down next to his sister and put an arm around her. “Well, nobody knows Elijah better than I do. So, maybe I can help you figure this out.”

“He’s not coming here. He didn’t say as much, but it’s pretty obvious. He kissed her on the cheek, told her to be happy and have the life she deserves, and then walked out. He’s going back to France. Hayley is sure that he’s going back to Antoinette. And… it actually seems that way. But it doesn’t make any sense! You didn’t see him, Klaus. He stood right there. Not two feet from where we are now. He stood there and he told me that the only times he’s ever felt that scared and helpless were when he thought that Hayley was dead or dying. He stood there and told me that he can’t go through that again. He obviously still loves her. The panic in his voice and his eyes when he got his memories back and he realized that she was missing… He loves her. So, why is he going back to France? Why did he tell her to be happy like he’s not coming back? What the Hell is going on with him?”

Klaus ran a hand over his eyes. “Knowing Elijah, he’s probably being a fucking martyr, again. He’s blaming himself for everything, and has decided that Hayley deserves better than him. You’re right. He’s an idiot. And I feel like going back to France and dragging his ass back here and making him talk to her.”

“You can’t. You know that you can’t. It was bad enough the two of you being together before. You did that because you needed his help to find her and get her back. You need to think rationally again. Hope needs you to think rationally. Any talking you do with Elijah needs to be over the phone, now. You know it has to be that way, Klaus.”

“I know. I don’t like it, but I know. Dammit! I’m going to murder that man, I swear. The look on Hayley’s face when she saw him. It was——How he can possibly think that she’s better off without him is beyond me. But, that’s the only explanation I can think of for him leaving, again. It’s probably why he left the first time.”

“Great. So, you know him better than anyone. How do we fix this?”

Before Klaus could answer, there was the sound of an unfamiliar voice calling for Hayley. Freya waved her hand, and the box containing the piece of Hayley’s skin that had been cut off closed. She put a finger to her lips. “Declan doesn’t know that we aren’t human,” she whispered, so quietly that only a vampire could have heard her.

He wanted to ask who Declan was, but that was going to have to wait, too. Because then this Declan person was in the room with them.

“Where is Hayley?”

“Probably up in her room. Umm… Declan… I’d like you to meet my brother Klaus.”

The man——Declan——stared at him for a minute. “You’re Hope’s father?”

“I am, yes. And you are?”

Declan smirked and pulled a ring box out of his pocket. “I’m Hope’s future stepfather. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I need to go talk to my girlfriend.”

Klaus watched him walk up the stairs, and then turned to Freya. “I’d almost feel sorry for him, if I didn’t already dislike him. But, I don’t see this going quite the way he expects.”

“Yeah… I honestly doubt she would have said yes even before. Now? Elijah may not want her, or at least that’s what she thinks. But, he’s still back. All of her old feelings just got dredged up a few hours ago. This is not going to go well for poor Declan. It’s a shame. I like him. I mean, not enough to be all that happy about him replacing Elijah, but I like him. He’s Cami’s cousin, by the way.”

Klaus laughed. “Hmm… maybe I should tell him that we have more in common than just the fact that we’ve both slept with Hayley.”

Freya stared at him in horror. “Oh, that’ll probably go over really well. He already hates you for leaving Hayley to raise Hope alone. Since he obviously doesn’t know why. I’m not sure that telling him that you were also banging his cousin will exactly win you any brownie points with him.”

“And why should I care about winning brownie points? As I said, I already dislike him. Plus, I’m the Original hybrid. He should be worried about me, not the other way around.”

“You, little brother, are hopeless. Don’t make things harder for Hayley than they already are. Okay? Be nice to him for her sake? Plus, Hope likes him. It just might break her heart that he’s about to be out of our lives. So, you might want to consider that before you go all Klaus Mikaelson on his ass. Especially since his only crime was to be the one to try to put the pieces back together when our idiot brother broke Hayley’s heart.”

Yes. Their idiot brother. Who certainly had a lot of explaining to do. Klaus might not be able to go to France and get that explanation in person, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to get one. If nothing else he could give Elijah’s dagger to one of Hope’s hybrids and have them bring his wayward brother home to talk to Hayley. Not that he was about to let anyone else know about that little plan until it was done. Save himself some arguments.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hayley wasn’t in her room. She had gone there, stood in her doorway, and looked inside. Looked at the window she had been standing at when Elijah had told her how frightened he had been when he thought they were about to lose her. At the spot they had stood when she finally got up the courage to do what she had wanted to do at least since he had returned from Davina’s attic. She closed her eyes and let the memory of the first time she had felt Elijah’s lips on hers wash over her.

But, this room was tainted with other memories, too. She and Elijah may have shared their first kiss here, but they had never been naked together in here. This was the room where she and Jackson had consummated their marriage. It was the bed she had shared with Declan. And she didn’t want those memories, right now. She wanted Elijah.

She turned and walked down the hall to Elijah’s room. Being in here was painful, but it was a good kind of pain. Though, she couldn’t help slamming the door closed behind her as she stepped inside. It was a small act of defiance, better suited to her teenage daughter than to the mother and werewolf queen she was supposed to be, but she needed to express her frustration somehow.

She stripped down to her underwear, and then went to the closet and pulled out one of Elijah’s shirts and put it on. After seven years, even her senses couldn’t pick up his scent, but that was easily fixed. She grabbed his bottle of cologne and sprayed it on his pillow. It wasn’t perfect, as a wolf——and then a hybrid——Hayley had always been able to pick up more than just the cologne. There was no way to duplicate the natural scent of Elijah that had always been there underneath the soap, the aftershave, the cologne. But, it was better than nothing. She laid down on Elijah’s bed, hugged his pillow to herself and cried herself to sleep.

She woke up to the sound of Declan calling her name. She jumped out of Elijah’s bed and walked out into the hallway. Part of her realized how this had to look——her coming out of a room that wasn’t her own, wearing nothing but a man’s shirt, her hair probably a mess. And he had probably met Klaus. He didn’t know about Elijah. Not really. He knew that she had an ex who had broken her heart and abandoned her. And he knew that that ex was Freya’s brother. But, they had never clarified  _which_ brother. She was pretty sure that he had naturally assumed it was Klaus. After all, he was Hope’s father, who wasn’t around at all. 

He was staring at her. She closed her eyes against the pain in his. Though, she knew that she was going to have to cause him even more pain. She was going to have to break up with him. It wasn’t fair to him to keep trying to use him as a substitute for Elijah. No, Elijah didn’t want her, anymore. But, that didn’t make it right for her to keep Declan around as her consolation prize. But, just because she was going to have to break his heart didn’t mean that she had to let him think she had cheated on him, too. “This… it isn’t what it looks like.”

To her surprise, he nodded. “I’d like to think that Freya would have warned me about what I might find up here if you had spent the time I was gone in your ex’s bed.”

Her heart clenched at the unintended accuracy in his words. The truth was that she  _had_ spent the past hour or so in her ex’s bed. She had just been there alone. “I’ve just had a really long couple of days, and this helps. I wish I could explain it better.”

“Yeah.” There was understanding in his eyes, but sadness, too. Then again, how could she blame him. He probably realized what was coming. After all, she had just admitted that when she was feeling down, she went into a room other than the one she shared with him. She put on a man’s shirt that wasn’t his. It wasn’t him that she did her best to feel close to.

He looked down. “I… I was going to…” He closed his eyes. And then he pulled a ring box out of his pocket. “I had gone back to Dublin to get my grandmother’s engagement ring.”

She put her hand to her mouth. “Declan, I… I don’t know what to say.”

“Just tell me one thing. Is this because of Klaus? Because he’s back? After everything he did to you…”

Hayley closed her eyes. “It was never about Klaus. Hope was conceived in a drunken one night stand. This… this is about Elijah. Klaus’s brother.”

He blinked at her. “The ex that you were so hung up on is Hope’s uncle?”

“God! When you put it like that, you make it sound so sordid. But, yes. I… I came to New Orleans to try to find my family. Instead, I found Hope’s family. I found Elijah. And I fell in love with him. And then he left. He had to, really. It’s too complicated to explain. But, he had to leave. They all did. But, Elijah… when he left, he took my heart with him. And, then I met you. And I thought that I could… not forget, because you don’t forget something like that. Like what we had together. But, I thought that I could move on. I knew I would never love you the way I loved him. You only fall in love for the first time once. You know? But, I thought that I could love you enough. I really did think I could. And, a part of me did love you. Does love you. But, just…”

“Just not enough.”

“Elijah’s back. We aren’t back together. I don’t think that will ever happen. But, he’s back. I can’t explain what that means, or where he was. But… I saw him, today. I saw him, and the past seven years just melted away. I saw him, and I realized that I could never love anyone else. Not enough. Not enough to ask him to spend his life married to someone who would always be wishing that he was someone else. Because it’s always going to be Elijah. And I’m sorry, Declan. I am so sorry. I wish I had realized sooner. I just need you to know that I didn’t mean to lead you on. I really did think I could come to love you enough. And I’m so sorry.” And then she burst into tears.

“He’s an idiot. Any man that would willingly walk away from you is an idiot. And the truth is, that this would actually be easier if you were back with him. At least then I could console myself that at least you were happy. But knowing that you’re walking away for a memory… I understand, Hayley. I think a part of me always knew it would come to this. Even as I went to Ireland to get this ring, there was a part of me that knew that you would never wear it. But, I had to try. I would have gladly spent my life with you, even knowing that you wished I was him. I guess I’m just that much of a martyr. Do me a favor?”

“What?”

“Don’t keep me from Hope?”

Hayley gave a humorless laugh. “She’s fifteen. And she inherited her grandmother’s… stubbornness. I couldn’t keep you from her if I wanted to. And, honestly, I’m glad that you don’t want to cut her out of your life, too. She loves you, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. I just wish that her mother did, too. Be happy, Hayley. Go find this guy, tell him how you feel. Don’t give up without a fight.”

“We’ll see. Maybe I will. Eventually. Not right now, though. I have a lot of things I need to process, first.”

He shook his head. “It’s kind of ironic, really.”

“What is?”

“Me giving you advice I have no intention of taking, myself. I’m not going to fight for you, Hayley. Not because I don’t love you, but because I do. You know the saying, right? I’m letting you go. And I know you won’t come back. I know that you were never really mine. I guess I always did.” He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “Be happy, Hayley. I mean it. Fix this.”

She smiled. “Thank you. And I really am sorry.”

He just nodded and walked down the stairs, leaving her alone with her thoughts——and Elijah’s ghost.

**~The Path To Forever~**

“Your brother is an idiot.”

“Tell me something I don’t know. What happened?”

Declan scoffed. “What happened is that I’m stupid. I went up there to propose. To a woman who was trying to figure out how to break up with me. Because your brother is an idiot.”

“Yes, well. I would apologize, but… those two have been circling around each other for sixteen years. It was always going to be Hayley and Elijah in the end. I don’t think that even death can ever truly tear them apart. They’re soulmates. They were destined for each other. And that was written in the stars a very long time ago.”

Freya laughed. “I never pegged you as a hopeless romantic, little brother.”

“Oh, I have my moments. Declan, I’m not going to pretend to be sorry when I’m not. As I said, Hayley has always been destined for Elijah. But, that doesn’t mean that I am totally without manners. I have some excellent scotch in the cellar if you need a drink or ten.”

“Maybe another time. But, right now, drinking with the brother of the man who stole my girl doesn’t sound like my idea of a good time. I really don’t need to listen to your talk of soulmates and destiny right now. Not while I’m still trying to pick up the pieces of my broken heart. But, give me a few days, and I might take you up on it.”

“Well, unfortunately, I’ll be leaving town again, soon. It was nice meeting you, Declan. Sorry things didn’t go the way you wanted them to.”

When Declan left, Freya turned to look at Klaus. “Are you really leaving? You don’t have to. Hope is away at school, and with Elijah back in France, there’s no real reason you can’t stay for a while. I’ve missed you, brother.”

“Unfortunately, I do have to leave. But, this won’t be like last time. I’ll keep in touch. And I’ll call Hope, fix things with her. But, I have things I need to do.”

“Like what?”

“Like finding a way to undo what was done to Hayley. For starters.” He stood up. “But, before I leave, I should probably go have a little chat with Hayley.”

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hayley went back into Elijah’s room after her confrontation with Declan. After breaking the heart of a man whose only crime was loving her and trying to help her move on from a man who meant more to her than he could have possibly realized, she needed to feel close to Elijah more than ever. Plus, she could hardly go into her own room after that.

It was only a few minutes before she wasn’t alone. She looked up when she heard the door open, to find Klaus standing there, looking at her. She gave him a sad smile. “I’m guessing you heard.”

“I did, Little Wolf.” Hayley winced at that, and Klaus shook his head. “Sorry, but that will always be your nickname. Like I said earlier, you will always be my little wolf. You might as well get used to that.”

“At this point, I really don’t even know what hurts the most. I…” She closed her eyes, trying to get her brain to function enough to form coherent sentences. “I lost so much, today, Klaus. I lost being a wolf. I lost Elijah. I lost the damn fairy tale I’d been living in for the past seven years. No, not for the past seven years. The past sixteen years. The fairy tale I’ve been living in from the moment I laid eyes on him.”

“You want to tell me about this fairy tale of yours?”

Hayley gave a humorless laugh. “Oh, you know the one. Girl meets boy. Girl and boy fight dragons together. And then they live happily ever after. I mean, the past seven years added a fun twist to it. Boy gets amnesia. Girl finds boy wandering lost in the woods. Boy falls in love with girl all over again. They live happily ever after. I just wanted my happily ever after, Klaus. Was that really so much to ask? Don’t I deserve that?”

Klaus sighed and walked the rest of the way into the room to sit next to her on Elijah’s bed. “Of course you do. You deserve that more than almost anybody I know. And you deserve it with Elijah. The two of you have been through so much. You do deserve that. Something is going on with him, Hayley. I really don’t think his leaving again is because of Antoinette. I think it’s just Elijah being Elijah. We’ll fix this. You’ll see. I can’t go to him again. I’ve already risked far too much, and we’re lucky that that didn’t blow up in our faces. But, I have his phone number, now. I’ll make him talk to me. I’ll fix this for you. I promise.”

“Don’t bother. I don’t want anybody forcing him… If he doesn’t want to be with me anymore, then that’s that. I want him to be happy, too. And, I guess that what happened in Freya’s pendant and… what happened after Freya’s pendant… I guess that was just too much for him. I guess I found the one thing that Elijah can never forgive me for. And I can hardly blame him. I was such a bitch to him. Over something that wasn’t even really him. I pushed him away, threw away everything we had, the future we had planned together, over who he had been a thousand years ago. And I don’t blame him for hating me for that. I hate me, too.”

And then Klaus’s arms were around her. “Hayley don’t. Elijah doesn’t hate you. He loves you. He has always loved you. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but this is not about him not loving you. You have to believe that. He loves you. If you don’t believe me, then ask Freya. Ask her what he said when he got his memories back. Ask her how he reacted to seeing…” He trailed off then, but his fingers brushed against her scar, and she knew what he wasn’t saying.

“They sent my birthmark here?”

He nodded against her head. “They did. Had it delivered to Freya. I’ve seen it. And so has Elijah. And he kind of lost it. You saw him, today, Hayley. The man is a thousand years old, and I can probably count on my fingers the number of times he has acted without thinking. Today, when he saw you, was one of those times. He loves you, Hayley. Whatever may be going on in his head, right now, never doubt that he loves you.”

She just nodded and held onto him. And cried. She wasn’t sure if she was crying for herself, or for the future that she still didn’t believe she would ever have. Or if she was really crying for Elijah. For whatever pain he was in, right now. But, she had one tiny scrap of hope. Klaus was the least tactful person she knew. She couldn’t imagine him just telling her what she wanted to hear if he didn’t truly believe it, himself. And so she clung to his words like a liferaft, and prayed that somehow, everything would be okay and Elijah would come back to her.

  
  



	5. Sometimes, breaking up is easy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elijah goes back to France to discover that Antoinette was fully prepared for what he came to tell her. And he can't help but question some of her motives.

The last thing Elijah expected was to have Antoinette’s bartender call him over to the bar the minute he walked into the building. No, scratch that. That was the second to last thing he expected. The actual last thing he ever expected was to be called by name.

“Welcome back, Mr Mikaelson. Miss Sienna told me to give this to you when you came in.” He held out an envelope addressed to him in Antoinette’s handwriting.

Mr Mikaelson. The bartender knew his real name. That was certainly interesting. Elijah took the envelope and went up to the apartment he shared with Antoinette. He would pack up his things, and then, if Antoinette wasn’t back yet, he would read his letter and write one to her. He hoped it wouldn’t come to that. While there were certain issues with their relationship now that he had his memories back, he still thought he owed it to her to break up with her in person.

Except, when he got upstairs, something wasn’t right. He looked around, trying to figure out what it was. And then it hit him. His things were all still there, as were some of the things they had bought together, or that belonged to the apartment, rather than to either of them——but all of Antoinette’s things seemed to be gone. He walked into their bedroom, where it became even more obvious. Her clothes were all gone, too. It seemed that he was going to be spared from having to break up with her, by her breaking up with him, first.

He sat on the edge of the bed and opened the letter and started reading.

Elijah,

I know how this is going to go. So, I’m making a preemptive strike. The seven years you and I spent together can’t begin to compare with the thousand years you had with your siblings. And, maybe you could have had both, if it was just about them. But, it’s not. I can’t compete with her. I know that. If Elijah Mikaelson is back, then he’s also back with Hayley Marshall.

Yes, I knew about her. I admit that my mother kept tabs on your family, a bit. And, I suppose that I should also explain my part in that. Because I need you to understand. I suppose you remember meeting me, before, now. So, you know that I knew who you were from the moment we met. I need you to understand, though, that there was never anything malicious in my intentions towards you. When I first saw you, I honestly thought that you might have been there to finish what your brother had started all those years ago. But then you were acting very strangely. I realized quite quickly that something was wrong. That you didn’t seem to know who you were. Which you later confirmed.

I didn’t keep the fact that I knew you, and your history, from you out of malice, Elijah. I did it because I didn’t know what had happened to you to make you forget. I didn’t have any idea what could possibly give an original amnesia like that. I assumed it had to have been an extremely powerful witch. I was honestly afraid of what trying to get you remember could do. So, I kept quiet. Kept your true identity from you.

And I fell in love with the man you had become without your memory of your past and your family. Though, to be fair, I had always had a crush on Elijah Mikaelson, too. And, if it was just about you, and your family, I would have stayed. Would have seen if Elijah Mikaelson could have still loved me as much as Elijah Smith had. But, it wasn’t just about your siblings.

I know, Elijah. I know that you came here to break up with me. To tell me that you’re going back to her. And it’s okay. I understand. But, know that I do love you.

So, here’s how this is going to work. I’m moving out. I’ve left the bar to you. You can keep it, you can sell it, you can burn it to the ground. Whatever makes the most sense to you. And I won’t change my phone number or completely ghost you. If you ever need anything, let me know.

But, I couldn’t stand here, and look in your eyes while you told me that it was over. I can try to pass it off as trying to spare you from having to say the words. And that is part of it. But, I also admit to being a coward. To not want to have to see you again.

Anyway… Be happy, Elijah. She’s a very lucky woman. I hope she knows that. I love you. Goodbye.

Antoinette.

He stared at the letter for several minutes. Part of him was actually glad for it. Glad that he had been spared having to tell her that he was breaking up with her. Especially considering that he wasn’t even leaving her for Hayley, but for a memory. But, he knew that he couldn’t stay with her, even if Hayley was forever lost to him. It wasn’t fair to either of them.

And then something she said percolated through his brain. She knew. She knew that Greta had been keeping tabs on them. She knew about Hayley, and about Hope. It made him wonder if she also knew what Greta had been planning. If she had been a part of that. It would make a sick kind of sense from her perspective. Get rid of Hayley. Get rid of the one person that could have made Elijah completely walk away from her.

Because, she was right. If it was just about his siblings, he could have tried to have both. It was his feelings for Hayley that made staying with Antoinette untenable. She could compete with his siblings, and have a reasonable chance of at least having a draw. But there was no competing with Hayley.

He picked up his phone and called her.

“Elijah… I wasn’t expecting to hear from you this soon. I… I thought you would still be in New Orleans.”

“I came back to break up with you. I’m not going to lie. You were right about that. But, there’s something I need to know, Antoinette.”

“What is that?”

“How much did you know?”

“I don’t… I don’t know what you mean…”

“Your mother is dead. I ripped her daylight ring off and threw her outside. I did this after Niklaus and I managed to get her hand out from around Hayley’s heart. Marcellus then went to Mystic Falls and interrogated your brother.”

“Roman? Oh God! Elijah, please. If you ever felt anything about me at all, please don’t let your family hurt Roman. He’s innocent. His only crime was never really growing up and doing what my mother told him to do. He’s a good kid.”

Elijah had to smile at that. “I know. That was what Marcellus went there to find out. He can compel even an Original. Gave me amnesia that overrode a thousand years of love and devotion to my family. Made me even forget my soulmate.” Okay, that line was unnecessarily harsh, but he couldn’t help it, right now. “Compelling total honesty from your brother was no harder for him than it would have been for me. So, we know that your brother is not only innocent, but actually has a crush on my niece. Which is ironic, since he was sent there to spy on her for your mother. But, would you like to know what your mother did?”

“I have a feeling you’re going to tell me whether I want to know or not.”

“Smart girl. She had a witch cast a spell to bind Hayley’s werewolf side. A spell that is quite painful. This was done after she had that same witch cut Hayley’s birthmark off and sent it in a box to my sister as a message to Niklaus. She intended to do those some things to Hope. My fifteen year old niece. My only regret where your mother is concerned is that I killed her too quickly. As satisfying as it was to watch her burn, it would have been more fitting to keep her alive and make her be the vampire in the ritual to unbind Hayley. So, I just have one question for you, Antoinette. Did you know what she was up to?”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for several minutes. Elijah was just about to tell her that he was going to take her silence as his answer when she finally spoke. “I knew that she wanted to bind their werewolf side. Roman called me in a panic, trying to figure out what to do. He didn’t want to see Hope hurt, but he couldn’t disobey our mother. She… I’m sure your friend Marcellus has figured out the kind of hold that she had over him. I… told him to sit tight. To protect Hope as best he could, and I would try to figure out something to do from my end. I actually thought of calling you, telling you where they were in exchange for your word that you wouldn’t let Roman be hurt.”

“And why didn’t you?”

“I was scared. I wasn’t sure you would listen to. I was afraid that maybe it would actually make things worse for him. And…” She trailed off, then.

But, Elijah wasn’t going to just let things go. Not now. Not after everything that had happened. Not after he came dangerously close to watching Hayley die. “And what, Antoinette? Was there maybe a part of you hoping that Hayley would die? A part that realized that you could never compete with her if she was alive, but maybe you could compete with her ghost?”

“That’s not fair, Elijah!”

“Hayley almost died, Antoinette. Your mother almost killed her. Because binding her never would have been enough. Killing her——killing both of them——was always the real plan. If you don’t care for either of their sakes, or for mine, consider that she planned on making Roman watch her kill Hope.”

“Oh my God! You don’t… you can’t honestly think that was her real plan, can you? Elijah, I swear. I… If I had even suspected it would go that far, I never would have… I wouldn’t have hesitated. I would have told you everything I knew. I swear. I may not care for Hayley Marshall, and may wish that you had spent the rest of eternity never remembering how you used to love her, but I didn’t want her dead. And your brother… After he spared me and Roman, I wouldn’t have paid him back by helping my mother murder his daughter. You have to believe me. I can come home. You can drain me, compel me to tell you the truth. Just tell me what you need from me to get you to believe me.”

Elijah ran a hand over his eyes. “I can’t deal with you, right now. And the last thing I want is to actually see you. But, I may end up sending Rebekah, Kol, or Marcellus to talk to you.”

“Of course. And thank you for not including Klaus in that.”

“I’m pissed at you. I’m not going to lie about that. But, I did love you. And a part of me still does. It’s not enough to compete with my feelings for Hayley, but it’s enough for me to not want you dead. I’ll be in touch, Antoinette.” He ended the call and sat on the edge of the bed, staring into space. He really was going to have to send someone to talk to Antoinette. He wasn’t looking forward to that, but he owed it to Hayley to make sure that everyone who was directly involved in what happened to her was properly dealt with. And if that meant having the woman he had spent the past seven years with killed, then that was what he was going to do. Because Hayley and Hope deserved to not have to be constantly looking over their shoulders, waiting for another enemy to come try to take them out. It was bad enough that there were always going to be people willing to use them to hurt him or Niklaus.

His phone rang, then. He glanced at the screen, but didn’t recognize the number. Not that that was particularly surprising. After all, he ran away from Hayley before he had a chance to get phone numbers for any of his family other than Niklaus. He sighed as he wondered which of his siblings he was about to get yelled at by, and then accepted the call. “Hello?”

“Have you lost your bloody mind? Where are you?”

“Hello, Rebekah. It’s good to hear from you.” Granted, judging by how she started the conversation, that was probably going to turn out to be a lie, but it didn’t hurt to be civil for as long as she let him.


	6. Not Just A Mikaelson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Rebekah and Hope find out what really happened between Hayley and Elijah in that farmhouse, Hope decides she needs to grow up and fix this. But, are the Mikaelsons prepared for watching Hope embrace the other half of her birthright?

“Yes, Elijah. It’s good to _finally_ hear from you, too.” Elijah winced at that, but his baby sister wasn’t quite through with him, yet. “Now then. Are you going to answer my questions?”

“I’m in Manosque. There’s a bar that my fiancee owned. She’s gone, left the bar to me. She didn’t want to have to try to compete with Hayley. But, speaking of her——”

“No. You don’t get to change the subject. There is absolutely nothing you can possibly have to say about her that is so important that it can’t wait until we’ve finished our chat. What is going on with you, anyway?”

Elijah rolled his eyes. “You know what? We’re not going to talk about that, right now. Because it seems that I have lost time to make up for with you. Apparently, while I was gone, you decided to throw everything you’ve ever wanted away. For no reason that can possibly make sense.”

Rebekah scoffed. “No, Elijah. We are not talking about me, right now. You want to talk about throwing away a future? What about you? Hayley came to you, said you needed to talk, told you she loves you. And what was your response to that? You went and gave yourself magical amnesia and walked out of all of our lives without even saying goodbye. I had to hear from Marcel that my brother was gone. Hayley and Freya had to hear it from Vincent. From  _Vincent_ ! You didn’t even have the decency to actually say goodbye. To anybody. I can’t even forgive you for me. But for her? You just threw her away like she didn’t mean anything to you! Do you have any idea what that did to her? Do you have any idea how long it was before she could even bring herself to say your name? Do you know that she still has trouble saying your name, sometimes?”

Elijah wiped at the tears rolling down his face. “She’s better off without me. You know that she is. Maybe there had been a time… but after what I did to her in Freya’s pendant…”

“Oh, bloody Hell! You weren’t yourself, Elijah. That wasn’t you. And she knew that. There was… there was a lot going on, and it took her a while. She was scared. Not of you, not really. She was scared of everything going on around her. And, you want the truth? This time, Hope wasn’t in danger because she was a Mikaelson. This time it was because she was a Labonair. Suddenly, there was somebody who wanted her daughter dead because of _her._ And I don’t think she knew how to deal with that. So, she lashed out at you, because she needed somebody to blame. I’m not saying it makes sense. She’s never blamed any of us when it actually _was_ our fault, not really. But when it was her fault… she needed somebody to blame.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. None of it matters, anymore. Whether she was better off without me before or not, she certainly is now. I’m nothing more than a reminder. And, she’s moved on. And I need to let her. But, that doesn’t mean that I’m ready to watch it.”

“What are you even talking about, now?”

“Don’t, Rebekah. It’s okay. I know. I know that Hayley and Niklaus are together, now. And I’m trying to be okay with it. But, I’m not ready to deal with either of them. I’m not ready for them to come out and tell me.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for so long that Elijah pulled the phone from his ear and looked at it to make sure the call hadn’t been dropped. “Rebekah? Talk to me, sister.”

“You are a bloody fool, Elijah. But, how?”

“How do I know? Stupid little things, that maybe wouldn’t have seemed like a big deal, but… you know that her werewolf side was bound, I take it?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Well, you know how he was always calling her Little Wolf?”

“Yes. What’s your point?”

“When we rescued her, he didn’t just call her ‘Little Wolf’. He called her ‘my Little Wolf’. After she commented on not being his little wolf anymore.”

“So, it’s the possessives in that that have you——”

“Not entirely. When I told her that I knew what he had been up to while I was gone, her reaction… She kind of jumped. And almost looked guilty. And then, a bit later, she told me that she needed to tell me something. And I could tell from the look on her face and the tone of her voice that it was going to be something I didn’t want to hear.”

“And so, you cut her off so you wouldn’t have to hear her say the words. You know what? I can’t deal with you, right now. I’m going to let you go for now. You have my number, now. Call me.”

“Wait! Before you go, I need you to do something for me. I’m going to give you Antoinette’s phone number. I need you to find out where she is, and then do to her what Marcellus did to Roman. I need to make sure it’s really safe leaving her alive. She sounded genuinely remorseful when I told her what her mother was planning, but I need to be sure. For Hayley and Hope’s sakes I need to be sure.”

“Yeah, fine. Give me her number. I’ll deal with this for you. I guess it’s my turn to clean up the Mikaelson messes, huh? Only fair, really. You’ve been doing it for so long, it’s about time somebody else picked up the slack.”

He gave her the number and then the phone went dead. He just stared at it. Something wasn’t making sense. Why did Rebekah sound surprised to hear that Hayley was dating Niklaus? Why would they keep it from her? Or had they simply been worried that she would be angry on his behalf? Then again, who knows what Rebekah’s reaction was really all about? She could have been simply wishing that he would fight for Hayley. And never mind that he’d be fighting his own brother. But, why the hopeless romantic in her wasn’t happy that Niklaus had found someone actually made no sense.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Rebekah ended the call with Elijah, and stared at the phone number he had given her. She was going to have to take care of that. And soon. But first, there was something else she needed to deal with. Specifically, his asinine theory that Hayley was dating Nik. And of all the things to make him think that… He made no sense, sometimes.

She sighed. But, she didn’t call this Antoinette person. Instead, she called the one person who would know if Elijah’s theory was correct, that wasn’t actually a part of that theory. She couldn’t say anything to either of them. Nik would throw caution to the wind and go to France to deal with Elijah personally. And Hayley… This just might break Hayley’s heart all over again, to know how badly Elijah was hurting.

“Hey, Aunt Bekah! What’s going on?”

“So, I have a question for you. Are your parents dating?”

There was silence for a minute. And then gales of laughter. “You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am very serious, baby girl. Are they?”

“Umm… no. If they were, none of the crap that happened over the past week or two would have happened.”

Rebekah frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that until mom was kidnapped, I hadn’t spoken to my father in almost seven years. It wasn’t all that much after the last time I talked to him, that he stopped taking Mom’s calls, too. The whole reason I had Henry kidnap her for me was to force Dad to come talk to me. Everything that happened after that, was because of what I did. Stupid impulsive teenager that I am.”

“Bloody Hell…”

“Aunt Bekah? What’s going on? Why did you think they were dating?”

“I didn’t, really. But, your uncle Elijah does.”

“Uncle Elijah thinks my parents are dating? Well, that explains why he ran away the way he did. If he could see Mom, now… But, what in the world gave him that idea?”

“Stupid things, that if he was thinking clearly, he would realize didn’t necessarily mean what he thought they meant.”

Hope started laughing. “Why did you even ask me about it? I mean, you know that Mom had a boyfriend, right?”

Rebekah groaned. “Declan. That was what she had tried to tell him about. But, he thought she was going to tell him that she was dating Nik. The bloody idiot!”

“All right. Well, now we know what the problem is. Time for me to figure out a way to fix it. Don’t worry. I _will_ fix this. They deserve to be happy. I’ll figure something out.”

And then she was gone. Rebekah sighed for a minute. And then she called the number Elijah had given her. While Hope was fixing her siblings’ love lives, she was going to start dealing with the rest of their problems. Not that she was really looking forward to this in the slightest.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hope put her phone down with a sigh. Why were grown-ups such idiots, anyway? And how her Uncle Elijah was the worst of the bunch was really beyond her. He was a thousand years old. You would think that he would have acquired common sense somewhere along the way. But, he was worse than she was.

But, the other question was, how to get him to listen? There were really only two people that he would listen to about this. And they were the two people that couldn’t be told about it, right now. Her dad would go and do something stupid. And her mom was hurting enough without adding Uncle Elijah’s pain to it. No, she was going to have to get creative.

And then she realized that there was a third person he might listen to about this. But, before she could ask that third person to help her with this, she needed to be able to explain what had really happened. And maybe it wouldn’t be a great idea to do that without even telling anybody that she was going to. The last time she had acted impulsively, it had nearly gotten her mother killed. It was time she grew up. But, she needed time to prepare her arguments. It could wait until the morning.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hope pulled her laptop out, opened Skype, and started a group chat. Within minutes, her entire family except her parents and Uncle Elijah were staring at her from her screen. She had even included Josh and Vincent. Which, to be fair, considering what she was about to suggest, she kind of needed them to be included.

“All right, baby girl. What are you up to?”

“What makes you think I’m up to something?”

“You’re a Mikaelson, of course you’re up to something. I recognize that particular glint in your eyes. It is one hundred percent your father.”

“Okay, so I’ve been thinking. And New Orleans has been remarkably quiet for a while, now. But, we all know that that’s going to be changing. Greta wasn’t alone. Her people are still out there. And, eventually they’re going to recoup. And when they do, they’re going to be coming for us. For all of us.”

“And we’ll deal with it. Are you worried?”

“Actually, I’m not. I say let them bring it. We can show them that they messed with the wrong family when they came after us. But, the New Orleans council isn’t really complete. And, that was fine, before. You were keeping the peace just fine. But, that’s the thing. It was peaceful. It’s not going to be peaceful for much longer. Greta’s cult is not going to just go quietly into the night now that she’s dead. If anything, they’re going to want revenge. This isn’t going to just go away. They are going to come for us.”

“Which is a matter for the council, Hope. It doesn’t concern you. And it certainly doesn’t concern Marcel, Rebekah, Kol, or Davina. And where is your mother? Shouldn’t she be included in this conversation?”

Hope scoffed. “Doesn’t it concern me? This is my city, too. It’s my home. Not to mention the fact that I’m the one they most want dead. So, explain to me again, Vincent, how this doesn’t concern me? But, what I’m about to say, isn’t just a city thing. It’s also a family thing.”

“And where is your mother?”

She ignored him and continued. “Now, we have a lot going for us. Speed, strength, magic. The wolves have a bite that is deadly to vampires. If we have to take the city back from Greta’s people by force, we can. But, I can’t help worrying that they may have numbers on their side. But, what if they didn’t? What if we utilized the largest faction in the city? What if we had the humans working for us? Obviously, most of them really couldn’t. But, even without having all of their numbers working for us, they can still do things that we really can’t. They can be places we can’t. And they can keep guard, even if they don’t understand what it is that they’re guarding, or guarding against. It’s past time that the human faction had a representative on the council, again. And, we actually have the perfect person.”

“Absolutely not!”

“You haven’t even really heard me out. You don’t know who I’m going to suggest.”

“I don’t need to know who you’re going to suggest. We don’t need a human on the council. You’re being ridiculous.”

“Or maybe you don’t care if the Mikaelsons all die. She was going to kill me and my mom, Vincent. Both of us. And maybe the humans couldn’t have done anything about that. But having a few thousand extra pairs of eyes and ears couldn’t hurt. Even if most of them don’t actually know what they’re watching out for.”

“Hope! That isn’t fair. Of course Vincent cares about our family.”

“I’m sorry, Aunt Freya. But, right now I’m having a hard time believing that. But, that’s not what’s important, here. What’s important, right now, is what we’re going to do to protect ourselves. Not just ourselves, but the city. Because there is a group of vampires out there that seem to want to turn New Orleans into some supernatural version of Nazi Germany. Stopping them needs to be our priority And, right now the council isn’t complete. We need a human. And, that human should be Declan. After all, he’s an O’Connell. He’s Father Kieran’s nephew. This city is as much his birthright as it is mine or Vincent’s. I say that it’s past time we tell him the truth about what has been going on around here, and let him take his rightful place on the city council.”

**~The Path To Forever~**

Marcel listened to Hope in awe. Vincent seemed pissed, not that Marcel really cared. And he couldn’t help wondering what Hayley would say to all of this. But, there was one person that he knew damn well would be proud as Hell. A man that none of the others had ever met. The glint in her eyes when he first got onto the chat may have been all Klaus, but the speech she was giving was one hundred percent Victor Labonair.

Eventually, she exited the chat, but he had a feeling that this wasn’t actually over. This wasn’t a council meeting. She wasn’t putting anything to a vote. This was her informing them of her intentions. He wondered if anybody else realized that.

“Well, there is no denying that that girl is a Mikaelson.”

“Nah, Kol. That’s not a Mikaelson.”

“Really, Marcel? I think it may be a little late to try to claim that she’s not a Mikaelson. I mean, between Aunt Dahlia and the Hollow, there is no doubt that she’s Nik’s daughter.”

“Oh, I’m not denying that. You just seem to forget that she has two parents. That wasn’t Klaus’s blood. It was Hayley’s. That speech wasn’t coming from a Mikaelson. That was all Labonair.”

They were all staring at him, looking confused, and he sighed. “Ladies and gentlemen, we just met the future Alpha of the Crescent wolves. And, you know what? I think they’re going to be in good hands. She’s going to formidable. Be prepared.”

His phone rang, then. He glanced at it and smiled. Speak of the Devil. “Well, I need to take this. I’ll talk to all of you, later.” He closed out of the chat and answered the phone. “Hey there, baby girl. That was quite a speech you just gave. Your grandfather would be proud.”

“Fuck him.”

“I’m not talking about Mikael. You have two grandfathers. Actually, you have three grandfathers. But, I was referring to your maternal grandfather.”

“I keep forgetting that you’re the one that saved my mom, and that you knew her parents. You really think they’d be proud of me?”

“So proud. But, I don’t think you called to talk about them. What’s up?”

“Uncle Elijah is being an idiot. And I have an idea for how to fix this. But, I need your help first.”

It took her ten minutes to explain her plan, and his part in it. He had to laugh at her using her father’s own lack of foresight against him. It was a good plan. Most of the others would be pissed, but he was going to put his money on the winning horse. Besides, she was right. Something needed to be done. And this actually made as much sense as anything a Mikaelson could possibly come up with. And her reasons for why she thought it was the best solution were also sound.

“Yeah. All right. Let’s do this. I’ll call you when everything is ready on my end. Here’s hoping it works. Somebody in this damn family deserves to be happy.”

“Maybe I’ll deal with Aunt Bekah once I’ve fixed my mom and Uncle Elijah. But, I need to put the other half of my plan into motion. This should be fun. I’ll talk to you later.”

He ended the call, and then he laughed out loud. Oh yes, the others were going to be pissed. But, Victor would be proud. And when this worked, they’d all be thanking her.

  
  



	7. The World According To Hope Mikaelson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hope gives Declan the real Mikaelson family history, and asks him to help her fix their latest mess.

“Hey there, Declan.”

Declan turned around with a smile. “Hey there, baby girl! What brings you in here?”

Hope started playing with her hands, it was a nervous habit that she rarely did. But, right now, she couldn’t help it. “I actually came to ask you a favor. And you’re going to hate it. And it might actually be kind of cruel of me to ask. But, there are only a few people in my family who are even physically capable of doing it. And most of them would definitely not like my reason for asking. So, that kind of leaves you. And, actually, in a way, you’re the best person for the job, anyway.”

“All right. Slow down. What’s this about then?” He walked around the bar and made her sit down. “You know you can ask me anything, Hope. Just because your mother and I broke up, that doesn’t change anything between me and you.”

Hope bit at her lip, another nervous habit. “You’re going to want to sit down. Because there’s something I need to tell you before I ask for my favor. And you definitely should be sitting down for it.”

“Does this have something to do with your Uncle Elijah?”

“Yeah. But, probably not quite in the way you think. Sit down, Declan.”

She waited until he was sitting down before she continued. “Actually, you’re definitely also going to need a drink. But, I can get that for you.”

“You know I can’t let you behind the bar, Hope. And I especially can’t let you be handling liquor bottles. I could lose my license.”

Hope smiled. “That’s just it. I don’t need to go behind the bar. And I don’t need to touch anything.” And, with a wave of her hand, a bottle of whiskey flew off the shelf and into Declan’s hand. “And, after that little demonstration, do I even need to get you a glass?”

He was staring at her open-mouthed. “I’m going to take that as a no. Especially since it’s only going to get weirder from here. Drink up, Declan. Because you’re about to get the real Mikaelson family history. And it is like nothing you can really imagine.”

“What… what are you?”

“Me, personally? That’s a little complicated. Mostly, I’m a witch. But, it’s only ‘mostly’ because I haven’t triggered the other two sides to the lovely little one of a kind supernatural triangle that is Hope Andrea Mikaelson. Drink up.”

Declan took a drink from the bottle and then looked at her again. “And what are the other two sides to this triangle?”

“If I just say the words, you won’t really understand. So, I’m going to give you the Cliff Notes version of my family history. It’s kind of complicated. And, it all starts about a thousand years ago, in Norway.”

“You’re going to give me a thousand years worth of family history? Wouldn’t it make more sense if you just cut to the relevant parts?”

“I’m starting with my grandparents.” Okay, poor Declan definitely looked like his head was going to explode. “So, a thousand years ago, in Norway… well, the important thing to understand is that my grandmother’s sister was a very powerful witch. And Aunt Dahlia and Grandma were captured by vikings, I guess? Anyway… the important thing is that eventually my grandmother chose my grandfather over her sister. There was a whole lot of drama, it’s mostly not relevant. But, that drama led to my grandfather thinking that Aunt Freya had died of sickness while he was away on a hunting trip, or something like that. So, they moved to the new world. And settled in what would eventually become Mystic Falls, Virginia. The village they settled in was not bad, but it had a secret. And with that secret, there was one rule that was sacrosanct. You did not go outside on the night of the full moon. If you did, you could die.”

“Werewolves. It was a village of werewolves.” He was quick. And surprisingly accepting.

“Mostly, yeah. Anyway, losing Aunt Freya was hard on my grandfather. And he kind of pulled away from my grandmother. Which caused her to find comfort in another man’s arms. When my father was born, it was certainly possible that Mikael — the man I call my grandfather — was really his father, but my grandmother knew differently. And because of just who and what his biological father was, my grandmother cast a protection spell on him to help control the temper he inherited from his father. Mikael and my grandmother went on to have three more children. Uncle Kol, Aunt Rebekah, and Uncle Henrik.”

“I’ve never heard of Henrik.”

“No, you wouldn’t have. Aunt Freya never met him, and obviously neither did my mom. They didn’t leave him out of the story on purpose. It’s just hard to talk about him and not talk about the things you wouldn’t understand. I mean… I suppose they could have, but… Anyway. One night, during the full moon, my dad snuck out. He wanted to go watch the people who could turn into wolves. Obviously, now that we know the truth, we know that he was just drawn to them. But, what he didn’t know is that Uncle Henrik followed him. When a werewolf transforms, their mind isn’t exactly human, either. Uncle Henrik was attacked. He died.”

“How old was he?”

“Ten? Twelve? Younger than I am, now. Well, their father lost it. After losing both Aunt Freya and Uncle Henrik, he couldn’t handle the thought of losing any more children. So, he had my grandmother cast a spell on him and the five kids that were left. It granted them immortal life, but it came with a horrible cost. Sunlight burned them, they weren’t able to enter their own home until my grandmother told them it was okay. But, the worst side effect was the hunger. A hunger that could only be satisfied by one thing. Blood. Preferably human blood. They became the first vampires. And, at first, they couldn’t control their bloodlust. People died. Uncle Elijah killed his girlfriend, which got him so screwed up in the head that it still affects him. And my dad… When my dad made his first kill as a vampire, something happened to him. Something that didn’t happen to any of the others. And it became obvious that Mikael wasn’t his father. Because, unlike anyone else in his family, my father was a werewolf. Which made him the original hybrid.”

“Hybrid?”

“People who are more than one kind of supernatural creature are called hybrids. My parents are vampire-werewolf hybrids. There’s a certain kind of witch that doesn’t lose their powers if they get turned into vampires, and so can become witch-vampire hybrids. I don’t know if it’s possible for there to be a witch-werewolf hybrid, normally. Nobody has ever heard of one until me, so I’m thinking probably not.”

“Wait a minute! You said your parents. Not just your father.”

“Yeah. I did. Which is actually the perfect segue into telling my mom’s side of my family history, now. She was adopted. And her adoptive parents didn’t know that she wasn’t human. Until she was thirteen. She got drunk, and there was a boating accident, and someone was dead. And then, on the next full moon, she turned into a wolf. They kicked her out. She wandered from wolf pack to wolf pack, trying to find someplace to belong. And eventually found herself in Mystic Falls. Where she met my dad. Something you need to know about my dad is that when Mikael found out he wasn’t really his son, he made my grandmother bind his werewolf side. Dad and Uncle Elijah spent large portions of the next thousand years trying to figure out a way to undo that. And, that way turned out to be in Mystic Falls. Mom met him shortly afterward. It’s important to the story that Dad had just become a true hybrid again, because there’s something nobody knew about him, not even himself.”

Declan wasn’t stupid. “You. I’m guessing that most vampires can’t have children.”

“No, they can’t. Much to Aunt Rebekah’s frustration. But, dad is different. I don’t know if all hybrids can have kids, if it’s only guys, or if my dad is special. I mean… I’m still an only child despite you and Jackson, so I’m guessing my mom can’t. Which means that most likely no female hybrid can. But, I don’t know about other male hybrids. And, like I said, it could just be because he’s the original hybrid. So, my parents met, and got drunk together and a few weeks later, she found out she was pregnant. More drama ensued. But, somewhere in the middle of all of this, Mom and Uncle Elijah fell in love. They had a lot of problems. Most of them were external, though. Mom had to marry Jackson to protect me from Aunt Dahlia. Marcel kind of turned on the family for a while, which resulted in Aunt Freya putting herself, Uncle Elijah, Uncle Kol, and Aunt Rebekah into a kind of magical coma while my mom found a way to heal them. But, they never stopped loving each other.”

“I never really had a chance, did I? Even if he hadn’t come back when he did, I wouldn’t have stood a chance. Even if she told me the truth about what she is.”

“No. You really didn’t. And I’m sorry. But, those two… they’re going to be standing in each other’s arms when the stars burn out. My biggest hope is that someday I can find a love like theirs.”

“So, you kind of skipped over something in your story, I think? Your mother became a werewolf at thirteen, but you mentioned her being a hybrid. How did she become a vampire?”

“Me. She died in childbirth. But, since she still had some of my blood in her system when she died, she came back. I’m the only one who could have saved her, that day.”

“Your father?”

“Not anymore. He used to be able to, but he needed the blood of a very special human to keep them from dying a second time. And she’s not human, anymore. Or… she is, but I think that either turning vampire and then turning back or Amara dying changed things. Or, maybe he could use her blood, but he just hasn’t tried it. Doesn’t really matter.”

“Okay, so if your Uncle Elijah loved your mother so much, why did he leave?”

“Because of me. He left to protect me. They all did. When they woke up from their magical coma, we came back to New Orleans to rescue Dad.” She could see the question in his eyes, and answered it before he could ask. “He gave himself up to Marcel to be his prisoner. Aunt Freya used him as the anchor to her spell to keep the others alive, but in order to do that, Dad had to stay alive, too. If he had died, they all would have died with him. So, he gave himself up to Marcel, and him and Aunt Rebekah ran a little Batman Gambit to trick Marcel into walling him up under the compound rather than actually kill him. Anyway… After Mom was able to get what she needed to save the others, she woke them up and we came here. I was seven. My father had missed five years of my life at that point. But, he held on. He held on for them.”

She brushed at the tears that were forming. Thinking of the sacrifices her family had made — for each other, and for her — always made her cry. Especially considering they weren’t done, yet.

“Why do I get the feeling that there’s more to what happened to your father than just being walled up in the compound?”

“Because there is. There was a blade. A magical blade. There was a witch who used it to drain magic from vampires and other witches to use for himself. But, it also caused excruciating pain. Marcel stabbed my father with that blade. I don’t know when he took it out. But, for months if not years, my father endured a kind of pain that would have killed anyone but an Original. And he did it willingly. Because it was the only way to keep Marcel from killing him, instead. And if—”

“If he died his siblings died with him.”

“Exactly. He did it for them. He endured a fate that was literally worse than death because it was the only way to keep the others alive. By the time we got back, Marcel had taken the blade out. He and Dad weren’t getting along, really, but I guess he figured that being separated from everyone else was punishment enough. And, while there was no way to know about Uncle Kol or Aunt Freya, it was very obvious that Uncle Elijah and Aunt Rebekah were still very much alive, somewhere.”

“How was that obvious?”

“Because of something that happened the second time my Uncle Finn and Uncle Kol died.”

“The second time? How many times have they died?”

Hope thought for a second. “I think three each. Grandma killed all of them to turn them into vampires. I don’t know who killed Uncle Finn the second time. But, Jeremy Gilbert killed Uncle Kol because he was trying to kill Jeremy. Then Grandma’s ghost kind of hijacked a witch ritual and used it to have her, Uncle Kol, and Uncle Finn body jack some people. Uncle Kol got hexed, I think. But, the body he jacked died. Then Aunt Davina brought him back. And he’s been back ever since. Uncle Finn got taken out of the body he had jacked by Aunt Freya. She was eventually able to bring him back. Then a guy named Lucian killed him, just to see if he could. It’s complicated. But, when they died the second time, it wasn’t just them that died. Every vampire who was descended from them also died. It turns out that a vampire’s life is tied to the Original whose line they’re a part of. Which is why, at this point, probably every vampire on Earth is descended from either Aunt Rebekah or my dad. I think. I mean, Uncle Kol or Uncle Elijah could have made more, recently. Nobody’s really asked them.”

“So, the fact that several hundred vampires didn’t all drop dead at once meant that Elijah and Rebekah were both still alive, somewhere?”

“Exactly. So, we came to New Orleans. And we rescued Dad. But, then Mom’s side of the family tree came back to bite us. You see, the werewolves used to be witches. And there was some ritual. A marriage, but more than a marriage. It was meant to unite two tribes. But, the child that resulted from that marriage was both an extremely powerful witch and a sociopath. She eventually cursed seven tribes of witches. The curse took away their magic, and made it so that if they ever killed a human, they would spend the rest of their lives turning into a wolf every night on the full moon. And, to add insult to injury, the curse gave them horrific tempers, just to make it more likely that they would actually trigger the curse.”

“The first werewolves. And she’s a direct ancestor of yours?”

“It’s way too far back to know exactly how that all played out. Most likely she was the older sister of one of my direct ancestors. But, who really knows? But, they eventually managed to do something to nullify her power. They trapped her. But, she kept finding ways to come back. Though not completely. And then I was born. A crescent wolf who was also a witch. In me, Inadu saw a way to come back in full force. She possessed me. I was eight. So, my family made yet another sacrifice to save me. This time, they sacrificed each other. They sacrificed always and forever. Vincent and Aunt Freya divided Inadu’s spirit up between the four of them, and they all went their separate ways. They couldn’t be in the same city with each other, or with me. If they were, she would come back.”

She took a breath. “If we were at home, I would be getting myself a drink, at this point. But, I won’t risk you losing your license.”

“Thank you.” For his part, Declan’s bottle was half empty. Hope didn’t really blame him. “Go on.”

“They… they all gave up _everything_ for me. They gave up each other. My dad gave up watching me grow up so that I _could_ grow up.” She brushed at the tears that were forming angrily. “Uncle Elijah… he took it the hardest, I think. Between being forbidden to clean up my father’s messes, and being forced to separate from my mom… he didn’t trust himself. Marcel had, at one point, become something even stronger than my family, stronger than an original. He and Vincent compelled Uncle Elijah to forget the rest of us. He didn’t leave because he didn’t love us. He left because he loved us too much to be away from us. But, a thousand years is a long time. And, they had a lot of enemies. Enemies that Uncle Elijah wouldn’t know to watch out for. So, my dad went on a murderous rampage, to try to protect him. Destroying as many of their enemies as he could. That was a side of himself he tried so hard to keep from me. Until the day he couldn’t. Because, I may have been forbidden to be in the same city as any of them physically, but I’m a witch. I’m a damn powerful witch. I astral projected to see him. And saw something I shouldn’t have. Something he didn’t want me to see. I saw Klaus Mikaelson in all his horrific glory. And the idea of me seeing him like that scared him. He screamed at me to get out. That was the last time I saw my father until I got the brilliant idea to kidnap my mother to force him to come talk to me.”

“You kidnapped your mother? How in the world did you do that?”

“Remember that thing about me being able to turn werewolves into vampires using my blood? Well, the fact that that frees them from the curse of the moon, makes them very appreciative. Like… supernaturally appreciative. It’s physically impossible for one of them to disobey me. So, there had been a werewolf who wanted to be a hybrid. And I turned him. And then, I had him kidnap my mom. But, one of my dad’s many old enemies used her son to get close to me. And he was able to find out where I was keeping her. And they kidnapped her from me. My dad… he doesn’t always think clearly. Uncle Elijah was his leash. But, he was also his best friend, his voice of reason, the one person who could talk him down when he was at his worst. Dad couldn’t deal with what was going on here without Uncle Elijah. So, he went and got him. Had Marcel and Aunt Freya give him his memories back. They found my mom, but not before Greta had a witch bind her werewolf side.”

“That’s what she meant when she said that Elijah is back? That his amnesia is gone and he remembers who he is?”

“Exactly. But, Uncle Elijah left again. Because he’s an idiot. He told Aunt Rebekah that… he thinks my parents are together. Certain things that were said when they rescued Mom. It’s a long story. But, he thinks they’re together. So, he went back to France to give them their space. But, she’s miserable, because she think that he went back to be with the woman he was dating when he didn’t remember any of us. And, there’s really no point in trying to explain this to any of them. So, what I need to do, is get all three of them in the same room together and make them talk to each other.”

“How do you propose to do that if your father and Elijah being in the same city could get you killed? I get that they’ve all sacrificed themselves for you, but that doesn’t mean you should sacrifice yourself for them.”

“No. I can lock them all in the same room together, make it so they can’t leave until they’ve talked this out, without them being in the same city. There’s a spell I can do. And my father even helped make it more possible. He has been using my blood to make more hybrids. Don’t ask me why, or how he got my blood, for that matter. But, they obey me. I’m going to send a couple to him, and a couple to Uncle Elijah to protect their bodies while their minds are trapped.”

“Why do I have a feeling that this is where that favor you wanted to ask comes in?”

“Because it is? I know this is the last thing you really want to do, but… Marcel has offered to go with to look after my dad. I need somebody to help with Uncle Elijah.”

“How much help could I possibly be. I’m human. He’s stronger than me, faster than me, and apparently can compel me.”

“Actually, the fact that you’re human is how you can help. If his house is technically owned by a human, my hybrids won’t be able to go in. But, you can. And I’ll give you something to keep him from being able to compel you. But, I need somebody that can help make him comfortable if my hybrids can’t. I know I’m asking a lot. I’m asking you to help me get my mom back together with the guy she broke up with you for. But, she loves him, Declan. And after everything my entire family has done for me, this is the only thing I can do to even begin to try to make it up to them. They deserve this much, at least. Please help me.”

He closed his eyes, and then he finished his bottle. “Give me a day or two to think about this, baby girl? You’ve given me a  _lot_ to think about. And not just what you want me to do. I need some time to process all of this.”

“Of course. Just let me know what you’ve decided when you decide. Thank you for even considering it. But, I should probably leave you alone to your thoughts for a now.” She stood up and kissed him on the cheek. “I really am sorry about you and my mom. I wish things could have been different. But… this was decided sixteen years ago. Nobody else could ever really stand a chance. It’s nothing personal. I think she really does love you. She just…”

“Loves him more.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry.”

He shrugged. “Not your fault. Not hers, either. You can’t help who you fall in love with — and who you don’t.”

“Yeah…” She took a deep breath. “There’s also something else I want to talk to you about. But, I should give you time to process the fact that witches, werewolves, and vampires are real before I run that particular idea by you. Just, let me know whatever you decide.” And then she walked out before she started crying, again. It wasn’t fair. She wanted her mom to be happy, and that meant fixing things between her and Uncle Elijah. But, Hope hated that they had to break Declan’s heart in the process.

“Love triangles suck,” she muttered to herself as she walked back to the compound. That was the part the movies tended to gloss over. In the real world, resolving a love triangle meant breaking someone’s heart. And it wasn’t always somebody who deserved it. Poor Declan’s only crime had been falling for a woman with a secret he couldn’t comprehend, and a heart that already belonged to someone else.

  
  


  
  


  
  



	8. There Are No White Hats Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rebekah interrogates Antoinette, and Josh and Declan have a very interesting talk about the world Declan has suddenly found himself a part of.

The voice on the other end of the phone sounded pleasant enough. “Hello?”

“Antoinette Sienna?”

“Ye—es?”

“Rebekah Mikaelson. My brother asked me to call you.”

There was a chuckle. “I take it you’re my lie detector test?”

“I am. So, the question is do I go to you, or do you come to me?”

“I’m not in Manosque, anymore. I’m currently in Paris. So, it is entirely up to you.”

“Paris. I’m going to Paris. Without the love of my life, because I broke up with him. Perfect. I’ll come to you. Do not leave. If I have to track you down, I will assume you ran because you were afraid of what I would learn when I compelled you to honesty. I will have my sister scry for you, and I will send Marcel for you.”

“Marcel? Not Klaus?”

Rebekah gave a feral smile, though she knew the other woman couldn’t see her. “Klaus could end up making it too quick. Marcel I can trust enough to bite you rather than just rip your heart out.”

“Another hybrid. Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll be here. Call me with your flight details and I’ll be waiting for you at the airport. I want to make this as easy for you as possible. If only to convince you that I am not my mother.”

“You know. I think I might actually like you. Actually, give me one minute. I’ll order my tickets online right now and can give you the information now, rather than have to call you back.”

She tapped away on her computer and got herself on the next flight to Paris. “There!” She gave Antoinette her flight details, told her she would see her tomorrow, and ended the call. Then she started packing. Because if she was going to Paris, she wasn’t going to come back right after dealing with Antoinette. Even without Marcel, it was still Paris. She was going to enjoy herself a bit, too.

**~The Path To Forever~**

She grabbed her carry-on out of the bin over her head and exited the plane. After compelling her way through Customs, because she wasn’t in the mood to deal with that like she was a normal person, she went out to find a rather pretty woman holding up a sign with her name on it. No, Antoinette wasn’t as pretty as Hayley, but she didn’t entirely blame Elijah for spending the past five years in the woman’s bed. She walked over to her. “Antoinette Sienna?”

“Rebekah Mikaelson.”

“Let’s go somewhere and talk. I am very interested in what you have to say for yourself.”

“Of course. This way.” She led the way outside and to a waiting car.

The drive to her apartment was silent. Which was just fine with Rebekah. She wasn’t exactly in the mood for chitchat, either. Once in the apartment, she turned to the woman with a sigh. “Now, how do we do this? I’d honestly hate to have to torture you. After all, you kept my brother safe and sane for the past five years. And while I fully believe there were ulterior motives to that, I’m not convinced those motives were actually sinister. I’m thinking they were more sexual than anything.”

Antoinette held out her arm. “I haven’t had any vervain since I left Elijah. One sip to test that shouldn’t hurt you.”

Rebekah had to smile at that. “No, even if you still had vervain in your system, one sip wouldn’t hurt me.” She took the proffered wrist and bit. When she tasted nothing but the expected iron taste of blood, with none of the burn that residual vervain would have given her, she smiled. And then she looked Antoinette in the eye and let the force of her will wash over the other woman. “You will answer every question I ask with nothing but the complete truth. You will not lie. You will not omit. You will hold nothing back.” She purposely didn’t put a limit on it. From now until the end of time, any time Rebekah asked Antoinette Sienna a question, she would get a one hundred percent honest answer. She was through playing games.

Once she was satisfied that the compulsion was working, she got to work. “How did you meet my brother?”

“I met Klaus shortly after he had killed the man I called my father. My mother had begged him for mercy for herself, me, and my brother. Mercy that he granted. The first time I met Elijah, it was at a little speakeasy. We bonded over the piano. I liked him. I met the man who called himself Elijah Smith when he caught me hunting.”

“Why didn’t you tell him that you knew him from before?”

“At first, it was because I thought that he was toying with me. I thought that I was the mouse to his cat, and he had come to finish what his brother had started. I didn’t know why he was pretending not to know me, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of asking. But then it became clear that something was wrong. And when he told me that he didn’t know who he was, or anything about himself — that, indeed, he didn’t even know that he was a vampire until after he had killed a man — I couldn’t figure out what or who could possibly give an Original amnesia. I knew that whatever it had been, had to have been powerful. I was afraid that trying to get him to remember could hurt him.”

“So, instead, you insinuated yourself into his bed?”

“He initiated that. But, I had always been attracted to him. You’re his sister, perhaps you don’t appreciate just how gorgeous he is. But, when this new version of him was as attracted to me as I was to him, I was hardly going to complain. And then I fell in love with the man he became without his memories of the rest of you.”

“What did you know about Hayley Marshall?”

“I knew that she had had a child with Klaus. I knew that she had also gotten close to Elijah. Though, I didn’t realize just how close until Klaus came to get him. The way he sounded when he told Elijah that Hayley was missing. The way he seemed to think that Elijah completely forgetting Hayley was harder to believe than him completely forgetting the two of you… it was pretty obvious just who and what she actually was.”

“What did you know of your mother’s plan?”

“Not much, at first. I knew that she was using me to spy on Elijah, but I was doing my best to keep her from actually learning much. And I know that she sent Roman to the Salvatore school to get close to Hope. But I didn’t realize what she actually intended. I… I knew that she was looking for a way to bind a hybrid’s werewolf side. But, I swear to you, Rebekah. I thought that that was all she intended. If Roman or I had known that she intended to actually kill Hayley and Hope, we… I would have found Klaus. Like I told Elijah, I wasn’t about to repay him for sparing me and Roman by sitting back and letting his daughter be killed.”

“Are you willing to help us against the people who were following her if we need it?”

“Absolutely. You have my number. I’ll compel myself onto the next plane out. Whatever you need. I owe Klaus and I love Elijah. Whatever you need.”

Rebekah nodded. She was satisfied. “Right then. I guess that means you get to keep your head on your shoulders and your heart inside your body. Just… do everyone a favor and stay away from Elijah.”

“Well, since I’m included in ‘everyone’ that won’t be a problem. You think it won’t hurt me to be around him, remember what we had for the past five years, and know that it’s gone? I don’t blame him. A love like that… I can’t compete. And I’m not angry. Or even hurt. But, that doesn’t mean that seeing him again will be easy.”

“I’m not going to say that I’m sorry. I’m not going to lie. I don’t like you. I appreciate you doing your best to take care of him. And your reasons for lying to him. Thank you for trying not to hurt him. But, I am one hundred percent team Hayley. I have been for a very long time. I think we all are. Even Nik is.”

“Yeah. Even if I had a chance in his heart, it’s pretty hard to compete with the woman his entire family prefers.”

Rebekah smiled at that. “Nothing personal. But, if you’d ever seen them together, you would understand. It’s hard not to root for the only person who ever made Elijah willing to walk away from Nik if Nik had ever asked him to choose. That is something that even I can’t say. There really is no competing with Hayley.” She stood up. “But! Now that I know that it’s safe to leave you alive, I am going to go find a hotel. I’ll be in touch.” And then she looked in Antoinette’s eyes again. “And if any of your mother’s people contact you, call me or Elijah. Immediately.”

And then she grabbed her bag and walked out.

**~The Path To Forever~**

“Josh! Just the man I was looking for!”

“You need something, Declan?”

“Yeah. I need to know just how much you know about the Mikaelsons.”

Okay, that was kind of ominous. “What do you need to know?”

“Lock the door. The questions I need to ask aren’t exactly something that should be privy to the public, are they?”

Josh frowned at that, but locked the door. It’s not like he wasn’t a heck of a lot faster than Declan if this went south. He just hoped that he wouldn’t be put in the position of having to kill Hayley’s ex to protect his family. He walked over to the bar. “Okay, what do you want to know?”

“You know, this is hard. Needing to ask you something without knowing if it’s okay to ask you. Will it help if I tell you that I had a very interesting conversation with Hope?”

“I guess that depends on just what that conversation was about.” Granted, he was pretty sure he knew what it was about. She had warned them. Funny that it hadn’t occurred to any of them that it _was_ a warning. They all assumed she was asking for permission. Judging by what Declan was asking him, Josh was definitely getting the idea that permission was not something Hope Mikaelson had been at all interested in.

“It was about her family history. A thousand years worth of family history.”

Yup. That had definitely not been a request for permission, but rather a declaration of intent. But, still. Josh was not about to make assumptions and end up being the one to tell Declan more than the others wanted him to know. He pulled out his phone and called Hope.

“What’s up, Josh?”

“That conversation we had on Skype. You weren’t actually asking for permission, were you?”

“I’m the Alpha of the Crescent wolf pack, Josh. I don’t actually need permission.”

“Right. So, it’s okay for me to answer Declan’s questions, then?”

Hope laughed. “So, he’s looking for advice from someone who’s not a Mikaelson, huh? Go ahead. He knows everything I thought was relevant. If you end up telling him something I haven’t already, it’s hardly going to matter. Have fun.” And then the infuriating child was gone.

Josh put his phone away with a sigh. “So, how much did you have to drink while she was telling you a thousand years worth of family history? Considering just what that history included?”

“An entire bottle of whiskey.” Declan closed his eyes for a minute. When he opened them again, there was determination and a touch of fear in them. “Now, what I need to know before this goes any further is just how much you know about it.”

Josh had to smile at that. “Hope was right to trust you. Vincent was wrong. And your uncle and cousin would both be proud.” He popped his fangs out and bit into his own wrist, then held it up so that Declan could watch it heal. “I’m a vampire. So, whatever you need to know, go ahead and ask. You aren’t telling me anything I don’t already know.”

“Are the Mikaelsons good people?”

“You don’t pull any punches, do you? You’ve known Freya and Hayley for years. Why the sudden need for outside validation?”

“Because there’s a lot that I don’t know about them. A lot that they were keeping secret from me. And it makes me wonder just how much of the way they acted around me was just a mask. But, I’m not just asking about them. I’m asking about the four who left.”

“Okay. Let me explain something, Declan. You have wandered into a world of black and gray morality. A world where sometimes you need to kill to protect the people you care about. And sometimes you end up killing on accident. But, when you need to drink human blood to survive, it does things to you. And when you live for centuries, that also does things to you.”

“I know that they’ve all killed people. I know that that includes Hayley. I understand that part. I’m not asking for a body count, Josh.”

“Okay, then. You asked about the Mikaelsons like they are somehow all one person. They aren’t. They’ve all done horrible things. Some of them are more remorseful than others. But, I think that they’re all trying. Klaus was the worst of the lot. But not all of that was his fault. The bloodlust was worse in him than in the others because of having that werewolf temper to go along with it. To say nothing of the abuse he suffered from Mikael. But, even he was getting better. Cami and Hope made him better. I mean, I guess he’s been having his moments over the past seven years, but that was to protect Elijah. I think it’s fair to cut him some slack.”

“And Elijah?”

“Elijah was always known as the noble one. If he gave you his word about something, he would always keep it. Granted, he was also a rules lawyer and the king of finding loopholes. But, literally everything that man has ever done for a thousand years was to protect his family. Everything. And yes, sometimes that meant doing some pretty horrible things, but…” He sighed. “Elijah Mikaelson would burn the world to ground to protect his family. He would betray his friends to protect his family. He once ripped Marcel’s heart out in an attempt to protect his family. There are no fluffy bunnies in the Mikaelson family. I’m not going to lie. But, for him, it was always all about protecting his family.”

“And where does Hayley fit in that?”

Josh just stared at him for a minute. And then he started laughing. “Hayley is the one person that Elijah would murder his siblings for. In a thousand years, there has been precisely one person that could make Elijah turn his back on Klaus. And that person was Hayley Marshall. There is literally nothing he wouldn’t do for her.”

Declan was silent for a few minutes. And then he finally asked the question he had probably actually intended to ask from the beginning. “Does he deserve her?”

“My personal opinion? Yes. Actually, he does. They’ve been through Hell, Declan. All of them have. But, if you could see the way he looks at her. It’s like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. Every damn time. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

Declan sighed. “I was actually afraid you would say that. Hope asked me to help her get them back together. And, I want to tell her no. But… All I want is for that woman to be happy. Even if that means breaking my own heart.”

“Look, man. If you don’t want to do whatever it is that Hope wants you to do, I can do it. But, I can tell you that Hayley and Elijah at their best were… they were definitely the real deal. And I know that’s not what you want to hear. Heck! I was kind of hoping that she would marry you. But, we all knew. It was written in the stars, man. It was always going to be them in the end.”

Declan nodded. “Yeah. I’m getting that impression.” He took a deep breath. “So, now I get to help play matchmaker between the woman I was about to propose to and the ex who broke her heart. Because I am apparently a martyr.”

Josh couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re also an O’Connell. Hope was right about that part when she confronted the rest of us.”

“What does me being an O’Connell have to do with anything?”

Josh laughed. “Oh boy. Where to begin? Tell me something, how much do you actually know about what has been going on in this city? I mean, obviously you know about vampires. I’m assuming you know about witches and werewolves?”

“Oh yes. And hybrids — both kinds. And that Hope is somehow all of the above. And how does that even work, anyway? I mean, how in the world is vampirism inherited? I get that being a werewolf is genetic. That was part of Inadu’s curse. But, how can Hope be part vampire because of her father being a vampire? That doesn’t make any sense to me at all.”

Josh just stared for a minute, and then he laughed. “Okay, you want to know how Hope is part vampire? And yet, you aren’t questioning how she exists in the first place? I mean, vampires are magic to begin with. So, why bother questioning how that magic is passed on? The part I never could figure out was how in the world Klaus had viable sperm considering he’d been dead for a thousand years.”

Declan stared at him, then turned around grabbed a bottle off the shelf and two glasses. He poured them both a drink. “Does any of this ever make sense?”

“Define making sense. I think that after a while, you just start accepting that this is how the world works. Trust me, do yourself a favor and don’t bother trying to make it make sense. This world is nothing like the one you thought you grew up in. And trying to fit anything in it into a pattern that makes sense with what you used to know will only result in you losing your mind. Trust me. That is actually something that witches and werewolves have that vampires don’t. They’re born into this world. Trust me, though. We vampires all went through this at some point. And I’m telling you. For the sake of your own sanity, don’t try to make it make sense with the world you thought you were living in last week. It never will. If you want to survive, now you just need to accept that this is the way things really are. Unless you want me to compel you to forget everything. I can, you know.”

Declan shook his head. “No. I don’t want to go back. This is my world, now. But, you were saying something about me being an O’Connell like that matters here. What does that have to do with anything?”

“You’ve actually always been a part of this. Your Uncle Kieran knew about us. He protected the humans from us, and vice versa. When Hayley’s birth parents were murdered, Marcel gave her to your uncle. When the Mikaelsons came back, and Elijah tried to broker peace between all the species living here to protect Hayley and Hope, your uncle sat on the council they formed as the representative for the humans. He was a good man. Respected by each of the different factions. Well, mostly. There was one witch who… she cursed your cousin. That’s what caused his murdering spree.”

“Sean was cursed? That… that wasn’t really him that did those horrible things?”

“No. It wasn’t him.”

“Did Cami know?”

“She knew. Klaus tried to compel her to forget, in an attempt to give her peace. But then Davina broke the compulsion. She knew.”

“How did Uncle Kieran and Cami really die?”

“Oh boy. The witch that cursed Sean also cursed Kieran. Klaus turned him in an attempt to buy time for him and Cami to say goodbye. But, the curse overrode everything else. Klaus had to kill him again to protect Cami.”

“And Cami?”

“She was under a compulsion from one of Klaus’s exes. A nine hundred year old vampire who… wasn’t exactly sane to begin with. But, Aurora compelled Cami that if Cami ever felt that Klaus truly loved her, she was to drink the vial Aurora gave her that contained her blood, and then slit her throat. She died in Klaus’s arms, in his bed. But, thanks to Aurora’s blood, she came back. Until Lucian decided to use her to send a message. He had become something different from most vampires, or even most hybrids. His bite was deadly to vampires. Even to Originals. He bit Cami to hurt Klaus. She died in Klaus’s arms again. But, this time, there was no coming back.”

Declan closed his eyes. “This world you live in. It’s brutal.”

“Yeah. It is. But, it’s not like I can go back. And, honestly, I wouldn’t go back if I could.”

“Is being a vampire really that great?”

“Not gonna lie, the idea of living forever is pretty appealing. Though, at first there were definitely things that sucked. Until Davina made this ring for me, I couldn’t go out in the sun, or I would die. That was not exactly fun. But, for me it’s more than that. My parents disowned me when I came out. I died, I was on the news. And my parents never came down here to find out what happened to me. They didn’t even care. But, Davina cares about me. So do Freya, Hayley, and Hope. I wouldn’t go back, because as hard as this world is, at least I belong in it. Which is more than can be said about the world I was born into.”

“Yeah. I guess I can understand that. It’s just going to take some getting used to.”

“Yeah. That it is. Are you sure you want to be a part of it?”

“I can’t go back, either. I can’t go back to not knowing what happened to Uncle Kieran and to Cami. I can’t go back to thinking that what Sean did was him. This is my world now, too.”

“Yeah. I guess it is. Speaking of which, did Hope say anything to you about the council?”

“No. But, considering what you said about Uncle Kieran, I’m guessing that’s the other thing she had wanted to talk to me about. But, she said she was going to give me time to process before she talked to me about that.”

“Yeah. She actually told the rest of us that she thinks it’s time the human faction had a representative on the council, and she thinks that should be you. Just something else for you to think about, I guess.”

“One more thing to think about. Though, I think I’ll go ahead and do it if the others will have me. I mean, I’m a part of this, right? And apparently it’s kind of family tradition. So, I guess it’s time I took up my birthright.”

Speaking of birthrights, it suddenly occurred to him what Hope had said. She didn’t call herself the future Alpha of the crescent wolf pack. She had called herself their Alpha. Hayley wasn’t technically a wolf anymore. But, Hope technically wasn’t actually one, yet. He was suddenly worried that she might actually be ready to intentionally change that. Because they didn’t have enough problems, right now. But, that was a family problem. He would tell Hayley his concerns and let her deal with her daughter. Right now, Declan was his problem. “Well, for what it’s worth, you have my vote. Vincent is going to be the hard one to convince. But, we’ll work on him. Because Hope is right. It’s past time we let you become who you were meant to be.”

He had a feeling that the others would give him a hard time about that, but he didn’t care, anymore. He was so tired of being the low man on the totem pole. It was time he started being more proactive, too. Just because Davina, Marcel, and the Mikaelsons gave him a place to finally belong, didn’t mean that he had to let everyone boss him around. And it was past time that Vincent learned that the city wasn’t just his.

But, it was time to change the subject. “So, what did Hope ask you to do?”

“Go to France with a couple of her hybrids and help keep Elijah’s body comfortable while his mind is trapped somewhere talking things out with Klaus and Hayley. Or something like that? I didn’t fully understand it all, really.”

“Oh man. That does not sound like fun at all. Are you going to do it?”

“Part of me doesn’t want to. I mean, I’d be helping to get Hayley back together with Elijah. It’s the last thing I really want. But, I told her to fight for him. I told her that I was letting her go, because I love her and want her to be happy. I guess I need to put actions to words, now. And help her fight for him.”

“You’re a good man, Declan. I look forward to seeing you on the council. But, I should probably get going. I’ll see you around.”

Declan nodded and took out his phone. As Josh got to the door, he heard him talking to Hope. “All right, baby girl. I’m in. Tell me exactly what you need me to do.”


	9. In The Dreamscape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elijah meets Declan, but before he has time to realize just who he is, Hope pulls him, Hayley, and Klaus into a Chambre de Chasse and makes them all talk to each other. But, will Elijah put aside his pain and fear and actually listen?

Elijah looked at the $100 bill in his tip jar for a second, before looking up at the man who had put it in there. “You’re a long way from home, friend.”

“Not really. I actually grew up in Ireland. I’m on my way back there, now.”

“Well, then this was quite the detour.”

“Aye. That it was. I think I’m stalling. Going home means telling my family that I didn’t need my grandmother’s ring, after all. I’m not really looking forward to that conversation, you know?”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Having a marriage proposal rejected has to suck.” He wasn’t exactly speaking from experience. But, he knew what it was like to be head over heels in love with someone who didn’t love him back. Or maybe still did love him, but also couldn’t stand to be around him.

“It does, yeah. I mean, I think I knew. See, she had this ex, that really did a number on her. Broke her heart. I was never really enough to put it back together again. But, I had hopes that she would take what I was offering, even if she couldn’t really give me the same thing in return. But, then he came back while I was gone.”

“So, while you were off getting her an engagement ring, she was going back to her ex?” Okay, that was possibly worse than anything Elijah had been through with Hayley. At least his relationship problems were his own doing. Even Jackson was his fault, in a way.

The man shrugged. “Yes and no. He’s back, but they’re not back together. But, seeing him again… I guess it reminded her of what she had lost. Or something. But, we never even got to the part where I actually proposed. Because I got home and she was wearing his shirt as a nightgown to try to feel closer to him. Nothing like being told that when the woman you want to marry needs comfort that it isn’t you she tries to feel close to.”

This was turning into quite the sob story. What the man needed was several drinks. Elijah didn’t really know what to say. “Wow.” Not the most eloquent comment, but it was at least enough to let him know that he was at listening.

“Like I said, I always knew. I just want her to be happy. And, apparently the only reason they aren’t together is some huge misunderstanding when he came back. So…”

“What kind of misunderstanding?”

“Oh, she thinks he left again to be with someone else, he thinks she’s dating his brother. It’s complicated.”

Okay, this conversation was hitting weirdly close to home. But, before Elijah had time to really consider that, he noticed something else. Three other people, walking around the bar, talking to the other patrons. And everyone they talked to immediately stood up, paid their tab, and walked out.

Vampires. And he was willing to bet that the young man with the sob story was meant to be a distraction. “You don’t want the kind of trouble I can give you. I suggest that you and your friends all leave. Now.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, Elijah. I promised someone.” He wasn’t denying it. And in fact, Elijah had never given his name, which made that statement even more ominous.

Elijah stood up and spoke louder, addressing the three vampires who were now the only ones in the bar except Elijah, the bartender, and the decoy. “Gentlemen, I don’t know what you hope to accomplish here. But, I can guarantee that if you are here to cause trouble, it will not go well for you.”

One of the men came close. “We aren’t here to cause trouble, Mr Mikaelson. In fact, we are under orders from our Sire that nobody gets hurt. Especially you.”

That wasn’t as comforting as he probably intended it. After all, Tristan and Aya disobeyed him all the time. But then the man’s eyes changed. Only for a few seconds, but long enough. Gold. A wolf’s eyes. Not vampires. Hybrids. Which meant two things. The first was that they were physically incapable of disobeying their Sire. The second was that that Sire had to be Hope. Which, at least meant that he was safe with them. “What do you want?”

“Is there somewhere we can go — where all of us can go — where we won’t be disturbed and can talk more freely?”

There was really no point in lying to them. After all, whatever they were there for, they were sent by his niece. “There’s an apartment upstairs. We never bothered putting it in someone else’s name.”

He turned to the man who had been acting as a distraction. “I’m assuming, between what you said about your promise and how openly they’re talking that you’re with them. Do you have a name?”

“Declan O’Connell.”

O’Connell… Well, wasn’t that just perfect. “I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you’re related to Camille?”

“I’m her cousin. And Kieran’s nephew.”

Of course he was. Elijah stood up. “Well, I suppose that we should all go upstairs to talk. Be warned, though. You may be hybrids, but I am an Original. Do not think that you have any hope of getting the upper hand. As much as I love your Sire, I will not hesitate to send her your heads if I feel threatened enough. Understood?”

Declan raised his hands. “Speaking of family, I’m being groomed to take Uncle Kieran’s place. I’m only here as a plan B.”

Well, unless he was lying about the girlfriend and the ring, he didn’t mean that he was meant to take over Kieran’s church. Which meant that he was talking about his place on the council. Meaning he was human. And that meant that plan B was that if the hybrids hadn’t been able to get into Elijah’s apartment, it would have been Declan’s job to do… whatever it is they were sent to do. “Understood, Declan.” He turned and led the way to the stairs up to his apartment.

As soon as they were in Elijah’s apartment and the door locked behind them, Declan pulled his phone out. “Let me just let her know that we’re here. I promised that I would keep her informed of what’s going on.”

Elijah would be amused at all of this, if he wasn’t actually slightly worried about what his niece could be up to.

“All right, baby girl. We’re here. All of us. He’s all yours.”

Elijah started at that. But, before even he could react, his apartment vanished.

**~The Path To Forever~**

He was back at the compound, then. Lovely. What in the world was that child up to?

“I don’t know if I should be proud of her or wanting to murder her.”

Elijah spun around to see Niklaus standing there, one hand on his hip, the other holding up a piece of paper. “Hello, Niklaus. Tell me that that paper has some kind of explanation?”

Before his brother could answer, Hayley walked in and stared at them. “You two can’t both be here. What the Hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Well, love. We aren’t both here. For that matter, here isn’t here.”

Hayley groaned. “Oh, that girl is going to be so grounded when we get out of here.”

“Good luck with that. Even if you could figure out a way to keep her in the compound, she can always just astral project to wherever she wants to go.”

“So, I’m hoping that paper tells us what we’re supposed to be doing, here?”

“Ah yes. Cliff notes version is that the door has three locks. One for each of us. Our task is to find our keys, which are hidden somewhere in the compound in objects that she associates with us. Also, we are under orders to talk to each other and fix things. I’m not sure what it is that we’re supposed to be fixing, though. She doesn’t say.”

Lovely. Well, Elijah wasn’t really ready to talk, right now. “Right then. Well, I’m going to go see about finding my key.”

“Elijah…”

He shook his head. “Not right now, Hayley. Please. We’ll talk later. I promise. But, not right now.” And with that he walked out of the room and then ran up to his own bedroom at vamp speed.

He stood in the doorway, suddenly not wanting to go in. Something felt off about it. Though he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, just staring at the room he hadn’t see in seven years, trying to figure out what was wrong with it. Until there was a voice behind him.

“It’s awfully clean for a room that nobody should have set foot in in almost a decade, isn’t it?”

He turned around to once again see his brother standing behind him. “Yeah.” Now that he had that pointed out to him, he realized other things that were off. “Things have been moved, too. Not just the kind of things being moved that you would expect if they’d been coming in here periodically to clean.” In fact, now that he thought about it, it was something that would have been put away if somebody had cleaned in here that was the biggest thing that was out of place. One of his shirts was laying on the bed, looking slightly wrinkled. As if it had been worn recently.

“I’m guessing that Hayley has actually spent a lot of time in here, trying to feel closer to you.”

Elijah couldn’t help wondering why she would still be doing that — or how his brother could sound so calm while mentioning it. But, before he could question that, Niklaus was asking the question he should have been expecting.

“What the Hell were you thinking, Elijah? How could you just leave her like that?”

He closed his eyes. Yes, he should have been expecting that. Which didn’t make answering it any easier. “Honestly? I never meant to hurt her, Niklaus. You have to believe that. I didn’t think that it would.”

“That doesn’t answer my question, Elijah.”

“Doesn’t it? If you loved someone the way I love her, and you honestly thought that never seeing you again wouldn’t bother her at all, would you be able to live with that?” It was perhaps a low blow, reminding his brother of how much he loved Hayley. But, he couldn’t help it. If Niklaus wanted an explanation, that had to be a part of it. “I convinced myself that it was because of what you said. That I didn’t trust myself to stay away from you. To not swoop in and clean up your messes. And part of it was that. I… I’m pretty sure I’m codependent. Which made it so that I needed you. But, it was also because of her. If I’m being honest with myself, it was mostly because of her.”

“Because your codependency had extended to her? You do know that long distance relationships are a thing, right? Especially in this day and age. There are phone calls, and Skype, and Facetime. Hope is in a boarding school, Elijah. You and Hayley could have visited each other. Erasing your memories wasn’t the way.” Which, Niklaus of all people would certainly know how a relationship with Hayley could work, despite needing to stay away from Hope. The question was why in the world was he doing this? The man was acting like his own relationship wasn’t a result of Elijah leaving the way he did.

“No, not because of the codependency. I mean that I didn’t think she’d want that, Niklaus.”

His brother scoffed. “So, because you didn’t think she’d be content with a long-distance relationship, you arbitrarily decided to have no relationship at all? Explain to me how that works?”

“I didn’t think she wanted _me_. She was so mad at me. She… she hated me, Niklaus. She couldn’t even stand the sight of me. I couldn’t live with what I had done to her. And I couldn’t live with knowing how much she hated me for it. I never meant to hurt her. If I had thought that she would even care that I was gone, I wouldn’t have done it. It… it was her that I couldn’t live without. And phone calls, Skype, and Facetime wouldn’t have changed the fact that when she looked at me, she saw a monster.”

“You bloody idiot. She got scared, Elijah. And then she didn’t have time to process before everything went completely to Hell. But she never stopped loving you. She didn’t hate you. She was scared.”

“Of me. I’m not sure that’s really any better.”

“You need to talk to her, Elijah. You need to tell her all of this. Let her explain her side. It’s the only way you’re going to fix things.”

Except, there was nothing left to fix. Not really. Elijah couldn’t be Hayley’s friend. And he wasn’t about to pretend that he could. And the reason that was all he could ever be to her now was standing here, trying to get him to fix something that was irrevocably broken. He wanted to be angry, but he couldn’t. He could hardly blame his brother for wanting them all to be able to get along. This couldn’t be easy for him, either. But, him trying to act like things could possibly ever be okay between the three of them again wasn’t helping. But, to try to point that out would sound like an accusation, so he stayed quiet.

There was a sigh. “I also need to follow my own advice and talk to Hope. I’m not looking forward to that one bit.”

“What do you need to talk to Hope about?”

Niklaus started walking around Elijah’s room, picking up random objects and looking them over. On the surface, it might look like he was looking for Elijah’s key. But, Elijah knew better. The man was stalling, trying to put off explaining whatever it was he needed to explain. “When we found out what you did, I panicked. Now that your memories are back, you know the kind of enemies we’ve acquired over the centuries. The idea of you being out there, with no idea of just how many people there are who might be looking for a way to kill you, was terrifying. So, I did my best to protect you. Which, I had thought, would also protect Hayley and Hope, who none of us could be around.”

“What exactly did you do?”

“I kind of went on a murderous rampage. Finding and killing as many of our enemies as I could. Too bad I never even considered Greta Sienna in that. I might have saved Hayley from what happened to her.”

“So, what does this have to do with Hope?” Elijah finally bit the bullet and walked into the room. He started looking around, trying to figure out what Hope would have used to represent him.

“We had only been gone for a few months when Hope astral projected to see me. Except, what she ended up seeing was me at my worst. In my fear of what she would think, seeing me like that, I screamed at her to get out. After that I was so ashamed of myself that I stopped communicating with her. I hadn’t spoken to her since. Not until Hayley first went missing. And, in hindsight, I realize that me yelling at her like that probably scared her more than what she saw. But, by the time that occurred to me, the damage had been done. In my attempt to protect my daughter from the darkness inside me, I lost her completely. Or so I thought. Until she kidnapped Hayley to get my attention. So, now I have to talk to her about what she saw that day. And how I reacted to her seeing it. And everything that came after. I’m not really looking forward to it.”

“This. This is why I shouldn’t have done what I did. Between the fact that that probably never would have happened if you weren’t trying to protect me, and the fact that you couldn’t call me—”

“It is certainly true that being able to talk to you about things might have helped. I couldn’t really talk to anyone else.” He shook his head. “Anyway! I am coming to the conclusion that your key is not in here. I highly doubt that it’s been Hope who has been in here in your absence. Perhaps we should check the library.”

“And what about your key?”

“I suppose that we can help each other. Come on, brother. Let’s see what we can find.”

Elijah just nodded and followed Niklaus out. But, something was bothering him. A whole sot of somethings, actually. His shirt, laying on the bed. The way his brother talked about his relationship with Hayley. Why Hope was so adamant about getting them to talk. And the way Declan’s story about his girlfriend and her ex sounded so eerily familiar. He was starting to wonder if he had been wrong all along. But, he was honestly afraid to let himself have hope, much less actually ask either of them about it.

**~The Path To Forever~**

A few minutes later, they were looking around the library. Not that either of them really had any idea what they were looking for. Elijah started pulling volumes of his journal off the shelves and flipping through them. Which got him nowhere.

“I spent so little time with that girl. And most of it, she was too young to remember. She hardly knows me at all. I honestly can’t imagine what in the world she can possibly associate with me.”

“Join the club, brother. She’s my daughter, and I am in the same boat. The only thing I can think of for me would be my art supplies. Except, I’ve already checked those.”

“You could actually be on the right track, there. Have you found any of your artwork, yet?”

“A few pieces. And I’ve checked them. Nothing.” They worked in silence for several more minutes, before Niklaus finally spoke, again. “Did you really go back to Antoinette?”

“No. I went back to break up with her. I… I couldn’t be with her, anymore. It wasn’t fair to her. She would have been nothing more than a replacement. I did love her, when I was with her. But, I was a different person, then. I still care about her, but my heart and soul belong to Hayley.” He chuckled. “Before I got my memories back, I asked Freya if helping you find Hayley was really all they wanted of me. If I’d be allowed to go back to Manosque once I talked you down and helped you find ‘this woman’. She told me that if I still wanted to go back after we found Hayley, that nobody would stop me — not even you. Marcel added that if I still wanted to go back after remembering Hayley that there’d be no point in keeping me here.”

“Which was certainly true.”

“Indeed. Not that I could have known then why that was. I didn’t trust them. I assumed they planned to keep me a prisoner. And then the compulsion broke, and I remembered. I had a thousand years of memories thrown at me all at once. I don’t think we ever really understood, as we were living it, just how long a thousand years really is. Or the fact that the human mind was not designed to deal with that kind of time to begin with. Having all of it thrown at me at once… It was like drowning, Niklaus. I was drowning. And she was my lifeline. The first thing I was able to pick out of the tidal wave of memories I got hit with.”

He wasn’t sure why he was telling him this. But, the look in Niklaus’s eyes wasn’t pity, or anger, or hurt. It was compassion, and understanding. Which, was why he was telling him all of this. Not all of their bond was based on codependency, or simply being siblings. The man was also his best friend. The one person who understood him better than anyone. The only one who even came close was Hayley.

“She was my lifeline. She was what my mind and my heart latched onto to try to keep me sane while I had far too many memories thrown at me. No, Niklaus. I couldn’t go back to Antoinette, after that. Hayley may not want me, anymore. But, I’m still hers. I always will be.”

“Maybe you should tell her that.”

“I can’t do that, Niklaus. And you know why.” At his brother’s frown, he continued. “I may still be hers, but she isn’t mine, anymore. Her heart doesn’t belong to me, anymore. You of all people should know that.”

“How in the world would I know that? I haven’t spoken to her in years. You’ve seen Hayley more recently than I have.”

Elijah turned and stared at him in horror. “What? What did you just say?”

“So, after the disaster with Hope, Hayley still called me a couple times a month for a while, but then I told her that I trusted her to take care of our daughter and we didn’t need to do that anymore. That was the last time I talked to her. It was almost a year later that she went to see you. So, you’ve seen her more recently than I have.”

The horror Elijah was feeling must have shown on his face, because his brother’s look became worried. “Elijah? What’s wrong?”

“I’m a fool, Niklaus. A stupid, masochistic fool. And now I really need to talk to Hayley.”

“Care to explain?”

“Later. Hayley deserves to hear this first.”

**~The Path To Forever~**

He found her in Rebekah’s old room. Though, from the looks of it, it now belonged to Hope. She was holding a stuffed bunny in her hands and staring at it.

“Are you okay?” He couldn’t help letting his concern show in his voice. She looked somehow both sad and outright stunned.

She turned at the sound of his voice and smiled. Then she held up the bunny. “I’m pretty sure I just found your key. But, I thought that you should be the one to actually rip this open to get at it.”

He recognized it, then. It was the stupid bunny he had bought for Hope before she was even born. It was such a simple thing, and nothing like what he thought she deserved. But, he had seen it and thought it was cute. And with a little niece on the way, he couldn’t not buy it.

He walked into the room and took the bunny from Hayley’s hands. It didn’t feel any heavier than it should have, so he had no idea why she would think his key would be in it. “What makes you say that?”

She gave him that soft smile that he had always loved so much. “Because it shouldn’t be here. This bunny isn’t at the compound.”

“Oh. Right. What fifteen year old still has the stuffed animals she had as a baby? Makes sense.” He put it down. He wasn’t sure why. He really should be checking it. Though, maybe what he wanted was to keep Hayley talking. And talking about something other than their past relationship and just what they had both been up to since he left. For all that he had looked for her to talk to her about those things, suddenly he wasn’t sure he really wanted to.

Hayley laughed. “Elijah, you are an idiot. It’s not at the compound, because it’s in Mystic Falls. With Hope.”

He just stared at her. “I don’t… What do you mean?”

“I mean, she has things that she keeps with her at all times. Little things to remind her of the family that had to leave her to protect her.” She picked the bunny back up. “This is yours. It shouldn’t be here, not when Hope isn’t. She still sleeps with this bunny in her bed. I hope her future husband understands that he will probably share his bed with this bunny. At least until she has a kid of her own to pass it on to.” She held it out to him. “So, between the fact that it shouldn’t be here, and just _why_ it shouldn’t be here, I’m guessing that your key is in it. Because, in a dreamscape created by my daughter, more than anything else in this compound — this stuffed bunny represents you.”

He reached out and took hold of the stuffed animal with trembling hands. “That makes me not want to destroy it. I mean, logically, I know that this isn’t Hope’s bunny. It’s a representation that only exists in our minds. But, there’s a not so logical part of me that…” He laughed. “That is being really silly, I guess.” He took a deep breath and then ripped the stuffed bunny’s head off. And smiled when a key fell out and clattered to the floor.

He bent down to pick it up. “I… I can’t believe she even still has this thing. Much less that she brings it to school with her. And… she really still sleeps with it?”

“Yeah. She has this, her baby bracelet that Rebekah gave her while they were in hiding together, her favorite of Klaus’s paintings, and a book that Kol gave her. The painting hangs above her bed, the book and bracelet are kept in the top drawer of her nightstand. And Bunny here, sleeps on her bed. She keeps all four of you with her, Elijah. As best she can. And she has… she has been putting everything she has into trying to find a way to get you all back. It’s all she’s ever wanted.”

Elijah sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled Hayley down to sit next to him. “You seemed ready to talk when we first got here. I wasn’t then. I honestly wasn’t sure that I was every going to be. I admit that I’ve been avoiding you, ever since that day in the farmhouse. Ever since what happened to you. There were things I wasn’t ready to hear. But, I’m ready now.”

She closed her eyes for a minute, and when she opened them, they were bright with unshed tears. “I know that you’re probably still mad at me for the way I treated you after what happened in Freya’s pendant. I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me. I was a bitch. But, I was just so scared, Elijah. And not really of you. I… I saw what was behind that red door, and it freaked me out. Not so much that it existed, but because that was where you were hiding. The idea of… out of a thousand years of memories, that being where you felt most at home freaked me out.”

“It wasn’t really that, though. Where I felt most at home was with you. But, I don’t think I was looking to feel at home. I don’t really know why that was where you found me, Hayley. Or, maybe I do. I think that it was a refuge. I could lose myself in the monster, and not have to think. There was more to it. Things I can’t begin to explain. I hid there because I was hiding as much from myself as anything else. As for me being mad at you. I was never mad at you, Hayley. I was hurt. I’m not going to deny that. But, it was me that I was mad at. It was me that I hated. I hated myself so much for hurting you, that the only way I could think of to make it right was to die.”

He didn’t know where that had come from. Until this moment, he hadn’t even admitted that to himself. And yet, the second the words were out of his mouth, he knew they were true. He hadn’t been running away, at least not the way everyone had thought he was. It had been a suicide.

“And all I wanted was a chance to fix things between us. I went out there to talk to you, and I… I wanted to work out a way to still be together. And instead you… I thought you hated me. And I didn’t really blame you. I hated myself.” There were tears streaming down her face, then.

Elijah reached up and did his best to wipe Hayley’s tears away. “I didn’t hate you, Hayley. I hated myself.”

“I tried to move on. Especially after going to see you, hearing about your girlfriend, seeing that you were happy. I met someone, and he fell in love with me. And I tried to convince myself that it could be enough. But, it couldn’t. Not really.”

“Declan O’Connell.”

She started at that. “How do you know about him?”

“Because he was Hope’s back-up plan if her hybrids couldn’t get into my apartment. Were you really wearing my shirt as a nightgown when he came home to propose?”

“Oh God! I feel horrible. I don’t know what I feel more horrible about. The fact that I basically led him on for years, just how I ruined his proposal, or that after all of that, he’s helping to try to fix things between us.”

“He seems like a good man. Camille and Kieran would be proud, I think.”

“He is a good man. He deserves better than what he got from me.”

“I guess we both screwed things up, there. Antoinette deserved better, too.” He chuckled at the raised eyebrow she gave him. “I actually proposed, right before Niklaus… He had been waiting in the back room, waiting for a chance to talk to me. She went back to get a bottle of champagne for us to celebrate our engagement with. Instead, she found him. After I got my memories back, and we knew that you were safe, I went back to break up with her. Even if you didn’t want me, I… it wasn’t fair to her to stay with her, to marry her, while wishing that she was you. Except, she knew. She knew that Elijah Smith wasn’t coming back. And she knew that Elijah Mikaelson is head over heels in love with Hayley Marshall. She left while I was gone.”

“You were… You were going back to break up with her? I—I thought that you were going back to her.”

“I think I wanted you to think that. So that you wouldn’t feel as guilty. If I had moved on too, then I wouldn’t be hurt over the fact that you had moved on. Plus, I couldn’t stand to be here. To be around you, and not be holding you.”

She frowned at him. “Did Freya tell you about Declan? Why in the world would she do that?”

He shook his head. “No. Declan told me about Declan. Though, he was kind of vague, and while some of what he said hit really close to home, I… I didn’t really realize that he was talking about you until after I talked to Niklaus a few minutes ago. It was when I found out that you haven’t spoken to my brother in years that I realized that Declan’s story wasn’t a coincidence.”

“Okay. I’m confused. What in the world does the fact that Klaus and I haven’t spoken in years have to do with you suddenly realizing who Declan was?”

“Remember in the farmhouse, when you mentioned that you thought we were having two different conversations? We kind of were. I was stupid, Hayley. When you and Niklaus were talking about your werewolf side being bound, I… Little Wolf was always his nickname for you. I realize that. But, he had never called you “my little wolf” before.”

“The possessives. You thought he was calling me _his_?” At his nod, she laughed. “Oh, Elijah. You idiot. What in the world am I going to do with you?”

“I don’t know. I guess your options are to kiss me, or tell me to get out of your life. I… I can’t handle anything in between, Hayley. I can’t be your friend. And I’m not going to pretend that I can. It isn’t fair to either of us, really. I’m sorry if—”

And then she shut him up, the best way she could. Her lips were soft against his. And he tasted the salt from her tears. But, there was a hunger there. He could understand it. Seven years of missing him, of thinking that he had left because he hated her. He didn’t know how he was going to make that up to her. But, this seemed like a good place to start.

He brushed his tongue against her lip, and she opened for him. Their tongues tangled together, then. His arms went around her, finally pulling her close. He could feel her hands in his hair, holding him to her. They needed to talk. He knew that. But, for right now, all he wanted was this. To be here, with Hayley in his arms, pouring all of the feelings for her that he had bottled up into a kiss that was long overdue.

It was the feel of something falling into his lap that made him finally pull away. He looked down, and laughed. It was a key. And it wasn’t his, which was on the bed next to them. “So, apparently I was your key.”

“More likely, that conversation was. She did say that we needed to talk in that letter she left explaining what was going on.”

“Yes, she certainly did.” He brushed her hair off of her face. “I know that we aren’t even close to being done talking about everything. We have a lot that still needs to be said. But… I…”

“We have forever for those talks, Elijah. I love you. And, I really hope that trying one more time to make this work is what you want. Because, it is definitely what I want.”

“I do hope that you didn’t take my comment about not being able to be your friend to mean that I didn’t want anything to do with you. I love you, too. And I want to try. I know that we have a long road ahead of us. But, I want to try.”

“Good.” She reached up to touch his face, but he saw the light glinting off of her ring and sucked in a breath. “Elijah?” She put her hands down, in her lap, looking hurt and confused.

He picked up her right hand and ran his thumb over the Daylight Ring Freya had made for her. It was certainly pretty enough, but his heart clenched at the need for it. At what she had endured that horrific day. And at the knowledge that it was largely his fault. “I am so sorry. I don’t know how to make this up to you.”

“You didn’t do this, Elijah. You aren’t responsible for other people. Not even Klaus, for all that you spent a thousand years thinking you were.”

“Except… I’m not. This isn’t about Greta and her vendetta against Niklaus and hatred of wolves and hybrids. This is about timing.” She gave him a questioning look, but said nothing, letting him explain in his own way. “It’s an eighteen hour flight from New Orleans to Marseilles. And then a two hour drive from Marseilles to Manosque. Add in however long he was in Manosque before he was able to get me onto that plane, and… He wasted an entire day, Hayley. I made him waste an entire day. If he had just been able to call me… If all it would have taken to get me on the next flight home had been a phone call saying that you were missing, I would have been home a full day sooner. We would have found you a full day sooner.” Tears were streaming down his face, then. He didn’t care. There weren’t many people he was willing to cry in front of — to let see him at his most vulnerable — but Hayley was at the top of that list. “I am so, so very sorry. And I don’t know how to make it up to you.”

Her arms were around him, then. “You’re forgetting something, Elijah. All you could have done had you come home sooner would have been to wander aimlessly around New Orleans. Even Hope couldn’t find me. It was my werewolf side being bound that broke the cloaking spell on me. That extra day wouldn’t have stopped this. It would have just been an extra day of you panicking like a crazy person. Actually, it would have been two extra days of you panicking like a crazy person. There is absolutely nothing you could have done any sooner than when you did it.”

Except, there was another part of this. Another way that he was responsible. “Yes, but…”

Hayley put her finger to his lips. “No. I think I know what you’re going to say, and no. You aren’t doing this, Elijah. You aren’t taking responsibility for your brother, or for my daughter. This is not on you. You did what you did, and we are going to have to talk about that, eventually. But, what Klaus did in response to it is not on you. That’s on him. And it’s not like either of you could have predicted what Greta did. So, I need you to drop it, Elijah. This. Is. Not. Your. Fault. You hear me?”

He sighed. He wanted to argue. A thousand years of habit didn’t break easily. And one of the reasons he had had his memories erased was because of his ingrained habit of cleaning up after Niklaus. But, he had to admit that she was right. “I hear you.”

“Good. Now, where were we?”

He smiled, and pushed her hair off of her face, then kept going until he was cupping the back of her head. “I think that we were right about… here.” He kissed her again. And this time, the second their lips touched they both opened for each other. Their tongues tangled together again.

Time lost all meaning, if it had ever really had any in this place to begin with. Elijah had no idea how long they were there. He was completely lost in Hayley, in having her in his arms, again. Until a sound finally percolated through to him. The sound of a throat clearing — loudly.

“Honestly, you two. While I’m certainly glad that you seem to be back together, can the make-out session possibly wait until you actually have physical bodies, again? I, for one, do not care to live here permanently.”

Elijah and Hayley broke apart. Elijah had to chuckle at the red tinge to Hayley’s cheeks. “You, little brother, have horrible timing.”

Hayley kissed his cheek. “He kind of has a point, though. Now that we both have our keys, we should really help Klaus find his, so we can get out of here.” She gave him a wicked grin. “But first… So, Klaus. Would you like to hear about what your idiot brother thought?”

“I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“He thought that you and I were dating. That was why he left again after the farmhouse. He didn’t want to get in the way, or make us feel guilty.”

Niklaus just stared at them. “Elijah… Sometimes I really do wonder if you are even half as intelligent as you like to think you are.”

“Are you two having fun making fun of me?”

“I’m your brother. I think it’s part of the job description.”

“Enough! The sooner we find your key, the sooner we can get out of here. And the sooner Hayley and I can figure out how this whole long distance relationship is going to work.”

“I actually found it, already. Hayley, when we get out of here, I’ll give you my address. You can resend all the letters you tried to send me. Since apparently our daughter really thinks I need to read them.”

Hayley nodded. “I’ll do that. But, since we all have our keys, we should probably get out of here.”

They walked to the front door together, Hayley and Elijah hand in hand. They took turns opening their locks and then opened the door.

And found themselves in a hallway. A hallway that was all too familiar. Though, this time, there were only two doors. A white one, marked with an N. And the red door that represented the parts of Elijah that he kept buried. Elijah stared in horror as he understood what his niece intended. “No. Please, no.”

  
  


  
  


  
  



	10. Memory Lane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hayley and Elijah are forced through the red door together and end up reliving some of Elijah's worst memories.

“Abso-fucking-lutely not! Hope! Hope Andrea Mikaelson, enough of this! They’re back together, let them deal with the rest in their own time. Are you listening to me? Give them proper doors, Hope.”

Nothing changed, and Elijah sighed. “Either she can’t hear you, or she’s ignoring you. At this point, I think that either one is just as likely. But, I agree with you that Hayley is not going through that door. Can you take her through yours, please?”

Hayley shook her head. “I am not leaving you to face whatever it is that she thinks you need to face, alone. Not happening, Elijah.”

“Hayley, listen to me. We both know that what is on the other side of that door are things you shouldn’t have to see. I’ve already been there. I’ll be okay. I need you to go with Niklaus. I need to know that you’re okay. I’ll call you when we wake up. It’ll be fine.”

The damned martyr. But, Hayley was not going to just let him do this. Not this time. “You are not going through that alone, Elijah. I don’t have a door. Obviously the plan is for me to go with you.”

“She is fifteen. And we aren’t going to let her dictate things for us. I don’t care what her plan is. You are not going in there. Hayley… the last time you were in there, I almost killed you. You are not going in there, again.”

“Except, we’ll be together, this time. You’ll know that it’s me. I trust you, Elijah.”

“Nobody is going through that door. Not if I have anything to say about it.” Klaus went over and opened his door, but he didn’t step through it. “Ladies first.”

Hayley looked from the open door to Elijah. “Promise me, Elijah. Promise me that you’ll be right behind me. Promise me that you are not going to go through that red door alone. Promise me.”

Elijah closed his eyes. But, he didn’t let go of her hand. “We’ll all go through Niklaus’s door.” He reached out with his other hand to take Klaus’s hand. “Together.”

Except, when Hayley tried to step through the door, she couldn’t. It was like there was a wall. Actually, it was exactly like trying to get into a home she hadn’t been invited into. This door was for Klaus and only Klaus. Hope wasn’t going to let Hayley and Elijah through it. They weren’t getting off that easily.

“New plan, then. We all go through the red door.”

Elijah shook his head. “No, brother. I appreciate that, but no. We’ll do this Hope’s way. Honestly, who knows if you could even get through it? After all, we can’t get through your door.”

“I’m going to try. You can’t stop me.”

Hayley shook her head. “Have you considered that maybe not all of what Hope thinks we need to see together is bad? You prepared to watch some of our more… interesting moments together?”

Klaus smirked. “She’s my daughter. She’s a Mikaelson. No, Hayley. I don’t think that anything you two are about to see is going to be pleasant. I say we give him all the support we can.”

“Are you two quite finished?”

“Only if you’re willing to let me try to go through your door with you. I might not be able to. My daughter seems quite adamant that things are going to go the way she wants them to. But, you’ve known me for a thousand years, Elijah. If you haven’t figured out by now just how stubborn I can be, there’s a bit of a problem.”

Elijah gave an exasperated sounding sigh. “Fine. You can try. But, I won’t be at all surprised if it doesn’t work. Your daughter seems to have inherited your stubbornness.”

Hayley couldn’t help laughing. “Well, in her defense, she gets that from both sides. Or haven’t you figured that out, yet?”

Elijah groaned. “I’m doomed. Absolutely doomed.” He took a deep breath. “Well, brother, if you’re going to try, maybe you should go first.”

Klaus nodded and tried to open the door, which didn’t budge. “This, does not bode well.”

“Depends. I think it bodes very well.” Hayley snickered and then reached out and opened the door. “I am pretty sure it isn’t going to work. But, go ahead and try.”

Hayley doubted that any of them were surprised when Klaus was no more able to go through the red door than Hayley had been able to go through his. She let go of Elijah’s hand. “I’m going to take a few steps back. This… this is the last time the two of you are going to be in the same place until Freya and Hope get rid of the Hollow for good. I’m actually glad that we had so much trouble with the doors and had time for that to occur to one of us. Say your goodbyes, and then we’ll go home.”

She walked to the other end of the hallway, then. She couldn’t help but smile as Elijah pulled Klaus into a hug. But, the smile was sad, too. Because what she had said was absolutely true. There was no way of knowing if or when Klaus and Elijah would be able to even be in the same city, again. Klaus had taken a huge risk, getting Elijah’s help when she went missing. But, it was a risk they could never take again. At least now that Elijah had his memories back, they could call each other. It wouldn’t be the same, but it was better than the absolute nothing they had had before.

She gave a humorless laugh at that, wondering if she was really thinking about Elijah’s relationship with Klaus — or his relationship with her. But, they had fixed that, too. And Hope was hardly a child, and was in boarding school. They could visit each other. They’d make this work. She wasn’t going to lose him, again.

Klaus pulled away from Elijah, then. “Call me, brother. I’d say to call me as soon as you wake up, but Hayley deserves to be the first phone call. So, call me when you get off the phone with her.”

“I will. Take care of yourself.”

“You two take care of each other.”

Hayley smiled and walked over to them. She hugged Klaus and kissed his cheek. “Don’t be a stranger, anymore. To any of us. Hope needs you. We all do. Call Rebekah and Kol, too.”

“I will.” He walked back to his door, and then, with one last look back at them, he walked through it.

Leaving Hayley and Elijah alone. Hayley took Elijah’s hand, again. “You ready?”

“Not really. But, we can’t exactly live here.” He reached up with his free hand to brush her hair off of her face. “No matter what happens in there, just remember that I love you. I have always loved you.”

“I love you, too.” She kissed his cheek, and then took a deep breath. And stepped through the door.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Images flashed in front of her, too quickly to process them. But, she felt Elijah’s hand tighten on hers and she gave him an encouraging smile. But, he wasn’t looking at her, didn’t see her smiling at him. He was looking ahead, and then the images stopped flashing and there was one that she could focus on.

Elijah was chasing someone. It looked like Elena Gilbert, at first. But, no. Judging by both her clothes and Elijah’s appearance this was long before Elena was born. Another doppleganger, then.

“Tatia! Tatia wait! Wait.”

The girl tripped and fell, but she was back on her feet fairly quickly. “Stay away from me.”

“I won’t hurt you.”

“What have you become?”

“I am what I have always been. I’m the one who loves you.” He was holding his hand out to her, looking ready to cry.

“Your mother asked for my blood. But she said nothing of the dark magic that would turn you into a monster.”

“Look at me. I am not a monst…” He trailed off then.

And then Hayley saw it. The girl, Tatia, had scraped her hand when she fell. Not badly, but enough to bleed. And Elijah was still new at all of this, still unable to control his bloodlust. Hayley knew where this was going. There was only one way this could possibly end. This, this moment, this girl. This was why Elijah had pulled away from her after his mother had taken him. She was about to watch Elijah’s first love die.

It should terrify her. Both what she was about to see, and the fact that it was Elijah that was going to be the one doing it. But, it didn’t. Her only concern was what it was going to do to him to watch this. To be forced to relive Tatia’s death. She shifted her hand so that her fingers were interlaced with Elijah’s and squeezed. She wanted to tell him that it was all right, but she knew it really wasn’t. Not for him. This wasn’t going to change things between them. But, she hated that he was being forced to relive it.

“Tatia…”

The girl’s response was to punch him. Hayley had to admire her spunk. She could see why Elijah had loved her. It actually made her wonder if part of what had drawn him to herself had been that she reminded him of Tatia in some ways.

“I said I will not hurt you. I don’t want…”

“Blood?”

“Run!”

Tatia turned and ran. But, it was, of course, futile. Nobody could outrun a vampire. Nobody. Elijah was on her in seconds. Turned her around, and bit into her neck.

Hayley stood there, fingers tightly laced with Elijah’s and watched as this younger version of the man she loved fed off of the woman he had loved at the time. Watched as the girl’s struggles got weaker and weaker. Watched as the struggling stopped. Watched the light fade from her eyes, the life drain from her body.

She couldn’t help Tatia. She was a thousand years too late to help Tatia. But, she could hopefully help Elijah. “That wasn’t you. Elijah. Not really. That was the bloodlust. You couldn’t control it. That wasn’t really you.”

“I murdered her Hayley. I loved her, and I murdered her. I drained her dry. By the time I was done with her, there was just enough blood left for my mother to be able to use it to bind Niklaus. I… I murdered the woman I loved. I had wanted to have a life with her, to marry her. And instead I murdered her.” He looked at her, then. His eyes brimming with tears. “How can you possibly trust me after seeing that?”

“Listen to me. That was not you. I trust you because I know you. I know that that is not who you really are.”

He shook his head. “If only that were true.”

She wanted to ask him what he meant by that. What bit of self-loathing he had come up with, now. But, then the images in front of them started changing again. She was kind of dreading the next scene they would be shown. Whether it was really what Hope intended or not, she was being taken on a tour of Elijah’s worst moments. Probably because those were the things he didn’t want her to see, so of course that was what he was thinking about. And they were inside his head, right now. “Try not to think of pink elephants,” she whispered.

Elijah actually laughed. “What?”

“It’s what’s happening here. You’re thinking of all the things you don’t want me to see, so of course, that’s what we’re seeing. Because the act of trying not to thing of something makes you think of it.”

“But, why pink elephants?”

“It’s just a saying. I don’t know where it came from. But, whenever people talk about trying to control their own thoughts…”

“They talk about thinking about pink elephants. So… your pink elephant is the thing you’re trying not to think of.”

Hayley shrugged. “Something like that.”

“Right. I just wish I could turn it off. Make it stop.”

She squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. There is nothing that we can see in here that could make me go anywhere.” She paused for a minute. “Well, unless you cheated on me, or something.” He actually looked at her then, and managed to look affronted. Which made her giggle for a second. But, she knew that it couldn’t last, so she went on. “Please. Like I actually think that happened. I know you better than that. I might not have been thrilled when you started up with Gia, but… That’s another story altogether and could hardly be called cheating since I was married to Jackson at the time.” Both of those things were things they were going to need to talk about, eventually. But, they could wait. They could certainly wait until they were home. “Your past is exactly that, Elijah. It’s the past. You and I are going to be just fine.”

He didn’t look convinced, but he nodded. And then the images in front of them stopped flashing.

It was night, and there was a bonfire. But, that wasn’t all that important. Esther was there, doing something witchy. And Mikael was chaining Klaus to some logs. “Elijah. Elijah! Hold him down.”

Klaus was fighting, trying to get free. “Brother! Please! Don’t let them do this to me!” He sounded on the verge of tears. It was strange seeing the mighty Klaus Mikaelson like that.

Though, Hayley understood. This was before that. Before he became the ruthless monster he was known as. And he was scared. She didn’t blame him. She had been through what he was about to go through. She knew how much it hurt.

Elijah had shown her this before, but this time it felt different. This time, it wasn’t meant as an explanation of her child’s father. This time, it was Elijah’s own guilt that brought them, here. Which meant that there was more going on than what it had seemed on the surface the first time she saw it. And so she paid better attention. She couldn’t try to counter whatever guilt and pain it had caused if she didn’t know exactly what she was countering.

“Do it now, boy! Now!”

Elijah shook his head, but then he walked over to where Mikael and Klaus stood. He held Klaus still while Mikael chained him. Looked him in the eyes as his brother begged for help. And then he stepped back. This was where what he had showed her before left off. He had just been trying to get her to understand how she could possibly be pregnant with the next generation of Mikaelsons when the previous generation technically died a thousand years ago. But this time, he was reliving one of his worst memories.

The scene in front of them kept going. She watched as Klaus was put through the same torture she had endured in that farmhouse. Torture enacted by his own mother. But, the worst part, at least from the perspective of the two observers from the future, was that Elijah just stood there and let it happen.

When Hayley looked over at him, Elijah had tears streaming down his cheeks. “I just stood there, Hayley. I just stood there and watched my parents torture my brother. My little brother. I just stood there. No. I helped them. I  _helped_ them torture a man that I was supposed to be protecting. I don’t know how he doesn’t hate me.”

Hayley stepped in front of him, put her hands to his ears and tilted his head down to make him look at her. Doing her best to keep him from seeing and hearing what was happening. “You were young, Elijah. You were young, and you were understandably afraid of your father. And, for all you actually know, you saved Klaus’s life. For all you know, if Esther hadn’t been able to bind his werewolf side, Mikael would have found a way to kill him. Right then and there. And, even if that isn’t the case. It’s still not your fault. That would have happened whether you were there or not. That wasn’t your fault.”

“But, I _was_ there. He looked me in the eye and begged me for help. And I let him down. I betrayed him. And that wasn’t even the first time. Do you have any idea how much abuse he suffered at my father’s hands? How many times he was beaten? I should have killed Mikael long before that. I never should have let any of that happen to him. Rebekah did a better job of trying to protect Niklaus than I did. She actually once picked up a knife and came very close to stabbing our father in his sleep. I stopped her. I should have let her. Or done it myself. I failed him, Hayley. Again and again. I failed him.”

“That’s why you’ve done the things you’ve done, isn’t it? Why you feel responsible for him. Because you think that the things that happened to him as a kid that led to him being who he is, is your fault?”

Elijah just nodded, but didn’t say anything. Behind Hayley, the screaming stopped. Which meant that she didn’t have much time before they started moving again, while Elijah’s mind looked for the next thing he subconsciously wanted her to see.

Hayley shook her head. “You aren’t responsible for your father, Elijah. You are even less responsible for him than you are for Klaus. Nothing that happened to your brother was your fault.”

“I could have spared him that, Hayley. Or were you not listening?”

“I was listening. I know. You think that you could have killed your father, and spared Klaus the abuse. But, you were just a kid.”

“Not the whole time. Certainly not then. I was a grown man, getting ready to leave my parents’ house and start a family of my own. I was not a child when I helped my parents torture my brother half to death, Hayley.”

“You were afraid of your father, Elijah. There’s more than one kind of abuse. Maybe Mikael didn’t hit you like he did Klaus, but you were still being abused, too. You were afraid of him. And Klaus has obviously already forgiven you. So, now you need to forgive yourself. You need to forgive yourself, Elijah.”

He nodded again, and this time he looked slightly more convinced. Which was good. Because everything started changing, again.

When the images once again solidified, they were in the compound. Elijah grabbed Marcel and slammed him against the wall. “Forgive me, Marcel.”

Hayley wasn’t sure what it was that she was watching. And then, she saw Freya, stalking towards Davina, chanting. And she knew. Oh shit. Here they go. Hayley watched as Freya reached into the protective circle and grabbed Davina’s wrist, still chanting.

“Don’t do it, please. You’ll break the circle.” Davina sounded so scared, and so alone. And Freya was still chanting. And Elijah was still holding Marcel back. “Please, please, please stop. Please don’t do this.” There was blood pouring down from Davina’s eyes, as if they were tears.

Hayley didn’t know if she could watch this. And yet, she had to. For Elijah’s sake, she had to keep watching. She had to be ready to counter it. Somehow. She wasn’t sure how she was going to be able to, though.

Beside her, Hayley felt Elijah trembling. “Forgive me. Forgive me, Davina. I’m so sorry. Forgive me.” It was barely a whisper. It was only through her vampire hearing that even Hayley, standing next to him with her fingers interlaced with his, could hear him. “Forgive me.” Over and over, like a mantra.

Her heart broke. Both for the young girl being sacrificed to give Freya the power to save her family, and for the man standing next to her, being forced to not just relive his worst moments - but show them to her.

“Don’t leave me to them! Please no. Marcel!”

“No!”

There was a sickening crunch as Elijah snapped Marcel’s neck to keep him from stopping what Freya was doing.

“Please don’t! Please, don’t let go of me. Don’t! Please! Don’t let go! Don’t let go!” There was one final scream as Freya let go, and then Davina was gone. The circle was empty.

“Forgive me. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Forgive me.” Elijah let go of Hayley’s hand and crumpled to the floor. “Forgive me.”

Hayley knelt down and took him into her arms. “Shh… it’s okay, Elijah. It’s going to be okay.”

“I stood there and I watched my sister murder a teenage girl. Not just any teenage girl, but the love of my brother’s life. I didn’t just watch it. I helped her. I helped murder Davina. I helped her. And you can’t even give me that line about me not being myself then. That was me, Hayley. I was one hundred percent in my right mind when I held my friend back and kept him from saving the girl he had come to love like a daughter.”

Hayley didn’t know what to say, how to make this better. So, she just held Elijah while he cried. And then she thought of the one thing that might get him through this. “She came back, though. She came back, Elijah. She’s fine. Her and Kol, they’re married. And they’re happy. It wasn’t permanent. You have another chance. A chance to apologize. A chance to try to make it up to her. She came back, Elijah.”

“That doesn’t change what I did to her, Hayley.”

No, it didn’t. And Hayley was getting tired of this stroll down memory lane. She was getting tired of poor Elijah being forced to relive all of this. He had been through Hell, nobody was denying that. And it was just cruel to make him relive all of this. “Hope! Enough! I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish here, but this has gone far enough. Let us out of here. Now!”

“It’s not going to work, you know that. We have to keep doing this her way.”

“Weren’t you the one who was saying that we weren’t going to let a fifteen year old girl dictate things for us? You changed your tune quick enough, didn’t you? Why? Because you’re suffering now and think you deserve it? After what she did to get us back together, I refuse to believe that she’s doing this to make you suffer. In fact, I’m willing to bet that all of this isn’t even why she did it. This is your doing, Elijah. So, if Hope won’t listen to me and get us out of here, then I am asking you. No, I am begging you. Stop this. Stop trying to punish yourself. Stop trying to scare me off. I’m here, Elijah. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. It’s time to stop.”

Except, the images had started flashing again. She was almost afraid to even think about what horrible thing his mind was about to conjure up, next. She considered pulling Elijah to his feet, then changed her mind. Instead, she sat down next to him, put her arm around him, and pulled his head onto her shoulder.

And then the flashing stopped, and they found themselves on a bridge. With Klaus and Marcel. Shit! It wasn’t at all hard to figure out what it was going to be, this time. And she already didn’t know what she was supposed to say to this that she hadn’t already said.

“Give it to me now. I won’t ask you again, Marcellus.”

“My name is Marcel. And I’m not giving you a damn thing.”

It was Klaus who responded to that. “I can’t allow you the means to destroy my family.”

“Your family. Right. Thank you.”

“Klaus, Marcel will betray us. I saw it with my own eyes.”

It was weird that the thing Hayley’s mind wanted to examine was the fact that that was the first time she ever heard Elijah call Klaus by the shortened form of his name. He had always called him Niklaus. It was a stupid thing to focus on, but she couldn’t help it. Maybe that was because she was getting an idea of the rest of where this was going. This wasn’t just about Marcel’s death. It was about everything leading up to it. It was about the fact that it had started with Davina. Fuck! How in the world was she supposed to counter this?

“I will betray you? I asked, begged, for your help. And you left Davina to rot. You put down Lucien because he was coming for you. But, the thing is, you made Lucien. You turned him, taught him, and then abandoned him. And then you blamed Lucien because it’s always somebody else’s fault. But maybe you were the villains in his story. After all, that is the Mikaelson way, right? Kill, maim, torture. All in the name of family. Always and forever. I used to admire that vow. It gave me back the thing that had been beaten out of me. Faith in those you love. I was a fool. Always and forever is just an excuse to do whatever the hell you want. Maybe it’s time someone put an end to that.”

“You are treading very close to a dangerous decision.” Elijah took several steps towards Marcel, holding his hand up. “I’m asking you to choose wisely.”

Marcel looked between the Mikaelsons and the bottle in his hand. “Fair enough.” He made a move as if he was going to open the bottle. But, he didn’t get a chance to.

Surprisingly, since Hayley knew how this was going to end, it was Klaus that ran at him at vamp-speed. Only to be knocked to the ground, instead.

“You can’t stop me, Klaus!”

Klaus got up and stalked towards him. “I only meant to keep you from crossing a line you would most certainly regret.”

“No, you meant to keep your precious upper hand. Don’t you get it? Whatever I have to do, Klaus. I will find a way to hurt you. You will never be safe. Not as long as I’m alive.”

There were other images, super-imposed on the scene on the bridge. It took Hayley a second to understand what they were. She was inside Elijah’s head. And being inside his head, she could see, not just what was happening, but what he was thinking. She saw herself, covered in blood. And Klaus, screaming in pain. Then Elijah screaming. And the coffins. The four coffins lined up. It occurred to her, then, that they hadn’t known who the fourth coffin was for. They had assumed that three of them were Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah. But there was that fourth one. And one of the images Elijah had seen had been Hayley, covered in blood. He hadn’t known then that it wasn’t her blood. Could he have assumed that the fourth coffin was hers?

Combined with everything Marcel was saying, it wasn’t hard to understand why Elijah did what he was about to do. She would have done it, too. Had it been her on that bridge that night, she would have killed Marcel to protect Elijah. She knew that. Knew it with every fiber of her being.

But, she didn’t say anything yet. She waited, knowing her chance to talk was coming. At least now she had an idea of what to say.

“You can call me family all you want, I am done being your friend.” He grabbed the front of Klaus’s shirt and started shaking him. “From this day forward, I am nothing less than your worst—”

She never even saw Elijah move. Never saw him vamp speed until he was behind Marcel. But, she saw him, now. Saw him plunge his hand into Marcel’s back. Saw him rip the man’s heart out and hold it up. Saw Marcel fall over the side of the bridge.

“No!” Even then, even after Marcel threatened everything he had held dear, Klaus still loved him. The looks on both his and Elijah’s faces were heartbreaking.

Hayley looked away from the scene they were watching. Looked at the Elijah who was sitting next to her. Even more heartbreaking than the look on his past self’s face was the look on his present self’s face. She put her other arm around him, and held him tight.

“He baited you, Elijah. He wanted you to do it. He stood there, and he told you that you wouldn’t be safe as long as he was alive. And not just you. Not just Klaus. He threatened all of you. All of us. You did what you had to do. What he wanted you to do.”

“I didn’t have to do that. I could have talked to him. What he said… all of it. It was true. It was true, Hayley. Everything he said was true. We have always put our family above all else. We have always killed anyone who got in the way. To say nothing of the collateral damage like Davina. He was right about all of it. What happened on that bridge started nine hundred years ago. When Niklaus accidentally turned Lucien and we learned how it worked.”

“You can’t blame yourself for—”

“Oh, I’m not blaming any of us for Lucien being turned into a vampire. We didn’t know then what would happen, and Niklaus was trying to help him. But, perhaps if we hadn’t abandoned him, Tristan, and Aurora everything since would have been different. Perhaps if I hadn’t compelled them, set them up to be hunted by my father. Perhaps if we hadn’t always acted like our own lives were so much more important than anyone else’s… Perhaps Lucien wouldn’t have turned out the way he did.”

“You mean a sociopathic serial killer who made Kol during his ripper days look like the Easter Bunny? Pretty sure sociopathy is actually something you’re born with. I mean, unless he had turned his Humanity off or something.”

“So, what you’re saying is that Lucien was always a sociopath, and all my brother did was turn him into an immortal sociopath?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“It isn’t just that, though. Maybe we can’t really be said to be responsible for Lucien. But… Marcellus wasn’t just talking about Lucien. He was talking about himself, too. We raised him. Turned him, knowing full well what we were doing. Trained him. And then we abandoned him. We abandoned him and ran. He was family, too. And we just left him. And, even if it didn’t go back that far. Everything that had happened since Tristan and Lucien showed up had only one possible outcome. He tried, Hayley. He tried so hard to be one of us. To matter as much to us as we did to him. To be a true part of the family. And we denied him at every turn. I don’t blame him for hating us. Even in that moment, I proved him right. He stood there, and he accused us of not really caring about him. He accused us of putting our own lives above everything else. Of not caring who we had to kill to protect ourselves. And my response was to prove him right. Look at what I did to Davina. I murdered his daughter in front of him, because she was the only way to get the power we needed to stop Lucien. Even if you discount everything else, what happened on that bridge started with Davina. It started when even Marcel’s daughter, Kol’s soulmate… when even she wasn’t counted as part of our family. When even she was deemed less important. I wonder, sometimes, Hayley. If it had come down to it… would we have sacrificed you? If it had come down to you or us… What would we have done? I… I know that I never could have sacrificed you. But, would the others have? And the truth is… I don’t know. I don’t think Niklaus could have done it. Not with knowing that he’d someday have to explain to Hope why. But, would Freya have? I don’t know. But, Kol already knows. He already knows that to me and Freya, his wife isn’t really family. Marcel… we raised him. He was just a little boy when we took him in. And yet… when it came down to him or us… When it came down to it, I murdered him. I murdered the man the little boy I had helped raise grew up to be. Because that man threatened my family, and in the end, he wasn’t family. Not really. I tell myself it’s because I was worried about you and Hope. But, I don’t know that it really was. And, he says that he forgives me. That if it had been reversed he would have done the same thing. But… I can’t forgive myself. I can’t forgive myself, Hayley.”

“Shh… You did what you thought you had to do. You were scared, Elijah. You were scared and you reacted. He baited you. Taunted you. Begged you to kill him. And you did. And in the process, you turned him into something much bigger, much more powerful than you could have imagined. And, just like Davina, he’s still here. You have a second chance. A chance to make things right. And it’s going to be okay. You have to believe that it’s going to be okay.”

“But, what if it isn’t? How do I ever make that up to either of them?”

“You start by talking to them. You start by apologizing. I don’t know what else you’re supposed to do. But, you start there. Ask them what they want from you. Ask them how to fix this. But, it starts with an apology.”

“Yeah… I just don’t really know the words. But, I guess I can at least try. That’s all I can do.” He sighed. “Poor Kol… He spent a thousand years always coming in last. He was almost as much of an outsider as Marcel. And I can’t begin to figure out how to make up for that. When I killed Agnes I told her that nobody hurts my family and lives. And yet… the people who killed Finn and Kol are still alive and well.”

Hayley frowned at that, knowing that Lucien was dead, as was the witch who had cursed Kaleb. And then she remembered. That hadn’t been either of their first deaths. They had both died in Mystic Falls.

“So, if nobody hurts my family and lives, and the Gilberts are still alive… what does that say about Finn and Kol?”

“Elijah, don’t. You can’t change the past. But, one thing about being immortal is that you and Kol have literally forever to fix this. Same with Marcel. It’s going to be okay. You’ll see. It’s going to be okay.”

Except, the scene around them started flashing, again. Hayley wanted to believe that they were heading home. But, she knew better. It wasn’t going to be that easy. It couldn’t ever be that easy.

And, it wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t. She wasn’t sure where she was. Maybe it was somewhere in the cemetery. Elijah was sitting on the ground, playing with a knife. No, not a knife. An athame. And then she noticed what was behind him. In theory, that shouldn’t exist here. After all, he couldn’t see it. But, in practice, of course he knew that it was there. Four teenage girls, all with their throats slit. The Harvest ritual. She knew that Elijah had done this. Apparently, some part of him had decided to show her exactly what he had done. At least his subconscious had spared them both from watching the moment he actually did it.

Vincent walked in, then. “I do not like being summoned, Elijah.” And then he saw the girls. “Oh no. Elijah, what did you do?”

“Four French Quarter witches, killed on consecrated ground, with a ceremonial blade.” He tossed the athame across the ground towards Vincent.

“This is not how you do it, man! There’s a ceremony! Then there’s a ritual! The girls gotta be selected.”

Elijah stood up, then. “You find a way. And then the girls will be resurrected. Delay will only serve our enemy.”

Hayley couldn’t believe how cold Elijah was being, right now. Oh, she had known. He had become ruthless in that time. Been the one to do what needed to be done so that Klaus could be the gentle father they thought Hope had needed. But, it was one thing to know it had happened, and another to see it happen. She couldn’t help wondering how many others he had killed in those months.

But, did it really matter? In the end, was what he had done to protect Hope — not only her body but her innocence — really any different than what Hayley had done during the five years she and Hope had been on the run?

There was no flashing, this time. Just an instant change of scene. It was like Elijah’s mind had lumped all of this together into one memory. Which, made sense, really. After all, it pretty much was all the same memory, nothing he did in between mattered.

They were in the cemetery. Vincent was attempting to finish the Harvest, trying desperately to save the four young girls that Elijah had killed. He had a book open on the pillar he was using as an altar. Hayley stared at that book in horror as she realized the implications of it. Vincent didn’t actually know the ritual. He was punting here, and just praying that it would work. Had Elijah known that? She glanced over at him. Not at her Elijah, who was watching this with her, but at the Elijah of the past who had started this. His face was an expressionless mask. It was almost scary. But, Hayley knew him better than anyone except Klaus and Rebekah. There was a tension in the set of his jaw, a pain in his eyes. The mask he wore was exactly that. A mask. Hiding the part of him that hated himself for what he had done, and was praying as hard as Vincent that it would work. Not just because he needed the ancestors to help save Hope, but because he didn’t want to have actually killed those four girls.

Hayley still had one arm wrapped around Elijah’s back, holding him to her. Now she reached her other hand across and took hold of his hand. Once again intertwining their fingers as they watched Vincent finish what Elijah had started.

“In order to be reborn, we must have a sacrifice. In order to be reborn, we must have faith.” He sighed and picked up the book. “This isn’t right. This ritual is supposed to be performed by an elder of the French Quarter. I’m not an elder of the French Quarter. This is not my magic.”

“You were the regent of all nine covens! My own mother, my wretched mother, recognized your mastery. And let us not forget, you were the one that was selected by the Hollow itself.”

_Low blow, Elijah_ . But, Hayley could see it, could see what Vincent couldn’t. Elijah was holding on by a thread. He knew that he had crossed a line there would be no coming back from. He needed there to have been a purpose to it. His sanity was depending on it.

“So, whatever your doubts, whatever our differences, your gift is irrefutable.” He pointed at the girls. “Now you will make this your kind of magic.”

Vincent just nodded and went back to work. Hayley wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doing, though. Her attention was busy shifting back and forth between the Elijah of the past, and the Elijah sitting next to her, watching.

It suddenly occurred to her to wonder why he had brought them here. If it had been his guilt over killing the girls, there wouldn’t really be a reason to watch the ritual to bring them back. After all, it had worked. If anything, they should have watched the part they were spared — the moment that Elijah had slit those girls’ throats. But, they hadn’t. Instead, they were watching the ritual that had brought them back. And she couldn’t figure out why. Just what was it that he needed so desperately to show her? What horrible thing could possibly still be coming? Vincent and the Harvest Girls all made it out of this ritual alive. So, what in the world was Elijah blaming himself for, now?

She didn’t pay attention when things went black, though it occurred to her later what it had meant. Elijah had been rendered unconscious. What little she understood of what happened next was that it had been Davina who accepted the sacrifice and brought the girls back. Because Davina was the only ancestor that Vincent still had faith in, the only one that he believed was good and worth praying to. She glanced over at her Elijah, to see tears streaming down his face.

“He never lost faith in her. And, when we needed her, she was there. Even then. She had died, and then suffered a fate worse than death, because of our family. And she still helped us. Oh, of course part of it was because she had been a Harvest Girl herself and didn’t want to just let them die. But, I can’t help thinking that part of it was because Vincent had asked. Because we needed her.”

“Why are we here, Elijah?”

He sighed. “Keep watching. I know that the more I try to keep you out, the deeper in we go. Pink elephants, right? Try as I might, I can’t stop thinking about my pink elephants. You’ll see, soon. I don’t really have a choice in that. I’m going to show you, whether I want to or not.” But, his hand squeezed hers, and his other arm reached around her to hold her close. “But, I think I can handle just about anything, as long as you’re with me.”

She smiled at him. “I love you, Elijah. And we’ll get through this together.”

He nodded against her shoulder, but didn’t say anything. But then he tensed up, and Hayley realized that what they were really here for was coming. And she started paying better attention.

“Elijah, let me ask you a question. Do you remember at all what it’s like to be a human being?”

“Not really.”

“Cuz you just put four little girls’ lives at risk.”

“I’m trying, Vincent. Now, whatever happened tonight, we prevented the city from being destroyed.”

“What happens if what we did didn’t work, tonight?”

“It did. And, now we have an ally against the Hollow.”

“Yeah, Elijah. You are an infection on my city. You have absolutely no virtue, and you have no value, here or wherever it is that you decide to drag yourself next. I feel so sorry for that little girl, that she’s gotta be raised in a household with a punk like you. And I’m gonna be praying for her soul. Because I know you ain’t got one.”

Hayley gasped at that. “Elijah!”

Elijah was gasping for breath. “I didn’t want you to ever see that. I didn’t want… I didn’t want you to ever know.”

“What you said before, about having your memories erased actually being your way of dying… it started here, didn’t it?”

Elijah just nodded. “I’m no good to anybody, Hayley. I murdered Tatia. I helped my parents torture my brother half to death. I murdered Davina, Marcel, four little girls whose only crimes had been being French Quarter witches of the right age that hopefully Vincent would be able to finish the Harvest and gain us an ally against the Hollow. To say nothing of what I did to you. Everything I put you through. He was right. I don’t have any value. I have no purpose. I’m no good to anybody.”

“You’re good to me. Good for me. You have value for me. And for your family. Klaus, Rebekah, Freya. Even Kol, when you aren’t at each others’ throats. Hope. We all love you, Elijah. All of us. You have value to us.” She was crying, but she didn’t care. Besides, wiping the tears away would require letting go of Elijah. And that was not happening. Not now. Not when he was feeling like this.

“I just… what Marcel said on the bridge, what Vincent said that night. They were both right, Hayley. I don’t remember what it’s like to be human. And for a thousand years, I’ve never cared who I had to kill, or worse, to protect my family. We’ve all outlived our usefulness. And yet, I am always willing to sacrifice anyone and anything. And for what? We’ve all lived quite long enough, haven’t we? Why are our lives so much more important than anyone else’s?”

“Because that’s what it means to love someone. I wasn’t fair to you, before. I’ve never been a saint, either. I triggered my curse at thirteen. I was barely more than a child, and somebody was dead because of me. But, it’s not like it ended there. I met Klaus by setting up twelve hybrids to die. Twelve of my own people were dead because I wanted to find my family. And then there was Francesca, and all the wolves we killed that night. At least that time, I could say that it was to try to protect my daughter. But, still. And that doesn’t even begin to… The things I did while Hope and I were on the run, trying to find a way to save the rest of you. I triggered my curse in an accident. I set those hybrids up, but it was Klaus who killed them. Francesca and the other wolves we killed that night were threatening us, threatening Hope. But, while I was on the run… I’ve lost count of how many people I killed during those five years, Elijah. And most of them hadn’t done anything. It was just to cover our tracks. And I tell myself that I did what I had to do to protect Hope, and you. I knew that they had to know that you and Rebekah at least were still alive. And I knew that if they found me, they could use me to get to you. And I lived in fear. Fear that we would be caught. That you would be found. That Marcel would kill Klaus, and Hope and I would lose everything, everyone. So, I killed anyone that got too close. And prayed that there was still a part of him that loved Klaus and Rebekah too much to want them dead.”

“You did what you had to do.”

“I know. I know. And yet, was what I did so different than what you did?”

He lifted his head off of her shoulder, then. Turned and stared at her. “Hayley…”

“You’re older than I am, Elijah. By a lot. It’s like what I said in that cabin in the bayou when Klaus bit you. We all do bad things. But, most of us die before the list gets embarrassing. You are a thousand years old. You’ve done some pretty horrible things. But, so have I. I was a hypocrite, Elijah. I was a hypocrite. And, after everything… The death I can’t forgive myself for… is yours.”

He let go of her hand to wrap his other arm around her. “Shh… It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here, and like you said about Kol and Marcel… we’re immortal, Hayley. We have plenty of time to fix to this. It’s going to be okay.”

“I’m just so sorry. I’m so sorry.” But then everything started flashing, again. She lifted her head. “Elijah?”

He shook his head. “I don’t think it’s me doing it, this time.”

And then it stopped. And Hayley knew where they were. And as soon as she saw it, she realized that  _this_ had been Hope’s intention all along. She pulled away from Elijah and stood up, then took his hand to pull him up next to him. “That girl is seriously going to be grounded.”

Elijah actually chuckled before lifting her hand up to kiss it. “Don’t. I told you that I can handle anything with you by my side. And, as much as I’ve hated this, I think we needed those talks we’ve been forced to have.”

“Are you sure you can handle this?”

“I think so. Can you?”

She just nodded. And then turned to watch as her fifteen year old daughter forced both of them to relive the last time she had been inside Elijah’s head.

He was feeding, in a house strewn with bodies. Oblivious to everything around him. She understood that part, now. Understood that the man she was watching and the man she loved were not the same person. That there was a thousand years of growth in between. That this man was still too new, too overcome by bloodlust. It was different for them, for all of them. She had him and Klaus to teach her, take care of her, help control her. They had had nobody. She realized that being the first of your kind had to suck. Especially when you were dealing with the things they had to deal with. And then, something else occurred to her. The difference between this man and the man who tried so hard to convince the woman he loved that he was still the same person. “You flipped your Humanity switch, didn’t you? After Tatia, and Klaus… when your mother created that red door for you to hide the worst parts of yourself, you flipped your switch.”

“It’s certainly possible.” He sighed. “It’s also possible than none of this actually happened, and this is just my worst fears. The truth is, we’ll never really know. I can’t separate fantasy from reality. Not in here.”

In the end, it didn’t matter. Whether any of this had really happened, or they were just Elijah’s nightmares come to life it didn’t matter. What mattered is that this time, they were watching it together. And this time, they were outsiders, just observing.

“Elijah!” It was somehow both a shout and a whisper. And Elijah lifted his head. “I’m here to help you.” Elijah held the woman he had been feeding from up. Hayley understood something else, then. She had heard what sounded like a man crying and had assumed… she didn’t know what she assumed. But, now it hit her. The crying had been Elijah. Even then, even as he drained an entire family dry, the part of him that was still him hated himself for doing it. She understood. And wanted to cry for just what her refusal to understand before had cost him.

And then he stood. She knew what was coming. The moment that had almost been the beginning of the end of them. And she didn’t want to watch. But, she had to. She knew what Elijah would think if she turned away. He wouldn’t understand that it was her own actions that she couldn’t bear to watch. He would think that she was turning away from him. From the monster he once was. And so she stayed where she was. Kept her eyes facing forward. And just held his hand tighter.

She watched as her past self turned around to find Elijah standing behind her, his face streaked with blood. “Elijah.” Watched as he took a step towards her, and she stepped back. “Hey.” Watched as he started stalking towards her. “Elijah, wake up. It’s me. Elijah! Stop! Stop!” And then her past self turned and ran out the door, with Elijah right behind her.

She watched as she ran through the forest. Ran like a frightened child. From Elijah. The love of her life. Watched as she screamed for Freya. Watched as she tripped and fell. It was weirdly reminiscent of Tatia’s death. The main difference being that Elijah had no idea who she was.

Elijah’s fingers tightened around hers. “Hayley…”

“Shh… It’s okay. We’ll talk later.” And they would. This time, she would talk to him. Like an adult. She was through running away like a frightened child.

In the scene in front of them, Hayley was once again standing in front of an Elijah who didn’t even really know who he was, much less who she was. “Elijah. Please. Stop!”

She fell, again. And Elijah stalked towards her. He bent down until he was almost eye level with her. He actually seemed calm. Which calmed her. “I’m not trying to fight you. I’m just trying to bring you home.”

He reached down, brushed her hair off of her face. For a minute, it looked like she really was getting through to him. But, then he picked her up and vamp sped until he had slammed her into a tree, while she fought him.

As she watched, present-day Hayley wondered how much of what happened in there was because she had fought him. He was calm when she was calm. Even this, would he have hurt her if she hadn’t started struggling? He didn’t need to slam her into a tree to feed off of her. And if he had just wanted to kill her, he could have snapped her neck, or ripped her heart out. Yes, he kept slamming her against the tree, but he wasn’t doing anything else. Even as she struggled.

She heard Hope calling for her, then. “Hope! Stay there!” She pushed Elijah away and started running again.

And was back in the house, where Elijah caught up to her again. Speaking of Elijah… The Elijah standing next to her holding her hand was shaking again. “No. No. I can’t. I can’t.”

Hayley once again turned so that she was in front of him. “It wasn’t you, Elijah. That wasn’t you. What happened in there was not your fault. It wasn’t you.” He was shaking his head, and Hayley let go of his hand to grab his head to make him look at her. “That wasn’t you, Elijah. And I am just so sorry that I couldn’t see that at the time. That I let my own panic override everything you and I had been to each other. That I let myself believe that that was who you really were deep down. I’m sorry, Elijah. I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Hayley. What happened in there… What I did to you, and almost did to you…”

“It was all just taking place in our minds. Not only was that not really you, it wasn’t really me, either. You couldn’t hurt me in there, not really. And I can’t help thinking that maybe if I hadn’t panicked that most of that wouldn’t have happened. I am as much to blame for that as you are. But, that wasn’t you. And I need you to let it go. Let it go, Elijah. It’s going to be okay. We’re okay. Let it go. Please. Let it go.”

And suddenly, they were in the hallway. But, they weren’t alone. This was still the hallway in Elijah’s mind. Hayley watched as Elijah took a step towards her and she stepped back, hugging Hope protectively like she thought that Elijah would hurt her daughter.

“Forgive me.” But, it was too late. The damage had been done. Hayley had gotten scared. Scared of Elijah, scared of… she didn’t even know what, really. Scared of the darkness inside him, that if she was being honest they all had. Scared of the monster he used to be. Scared of the fact that that was where he had retreated to when his mind had shattered. She had been nothing but a frightened child. And it had cost Elijah damn near everything.

Especially since she understood the rest, now. After what Vincent had said to him, how was he supposed to react to this? Not just to what he had done, but to how she had reacted to it? After being told that he was an infection on the city, with no virtue and no value. After being told that Vincent felt sorry for Hope for having to be raised by him. How could he have reacted any other way to what she had done? She had just confirmed every horrible thing he thought about himself.

“Forgive me.” She echoed his words back at him as she crumpled to the floor. She wrapped her arms around her knees and cried. “Forgive me, Elijah. Forgive me.”

And then his arms were around her. “Hey… Shh… It’s okay, Hayley. It’s going to be okay. I’m here. I’m here, and it’s going to be okay.”

She straightened her legs and threw her arms around him. And they held each other while they both cried.

Elijah had one hand in her hair, and the other was rubbing up and down her back. “Shh… it’s okay. We’re going to be okay.”

She nodded, and then finally pulled away, wiping at her eyes. When she looked up, she noticed where they were. In the hallway, again. Still? Once again, there were only two doors. Only this time, neither of them was that horrible red door. Just two white doors. One marked with an E, and the other with an H. “Well, I guess we did what Hope wanted us to do. She’s finally letting us out of here.”

Elijah stood up and held his hand out to her, pulling her up to stand next to him. He leaned down and kissed her. “I love you, Hayley. We’re going to be okay.”

She nodded. “I love you, too, Elijah.” She stared at the separate doors in horror. “When we go back, I’ll be in New Orleans, and you’ll be in France.”

“Temporarily. I… I think I’m going to sell the bar. Or just transfer ownership to my bartender. But, that is a problem for later. As soon as I wake up, I’m going to compel myself onto the next plane to New Orleans. So, make sure Hope isn’t home, tomorrow.”

“We’re going to have to figure out how we’re going to work this.”

He shrugged. “Advantage to your daughter being in a boarding school. I can stay at the compound while Hope is at school, and go somewhere when she comes home. We’ll just need to make sure she gives me enough notice to get out of town.”

“I hear Baton Rouge is nice. Close enough to make travel easy, but far enough that you won’t be too close to Hope when she comes home.”

He smiled. “I’ll have to look into apartments in Baton Rouge. I’m definitely going to want to have an actual home there, and not just go stay at a hotel.”

“But, you’re coming home first, right? We can apartment hunt, together.” She gave him a seductive grin. “And then, when you do find a place, I can help you christen it.”

He groaned and pulled her close. “I like the sound of that.” And then he lowered his mouth to hers for a deep, probing kiss. As their tongues tangled together, he slid the hand not holding her head to him down her back until he was cupping her ass and pulled her to him.

She moaned and leaned into him, loving the feel of his body pressed against hers. But then she pulled away. “It’s been seven years, Elijah. And when I make love to you again, I want it to be real. I’ll see you, tomorrow. And we’ll have a proper reunion, then.”

He smiled and pushed her hair off of her face before kissing her forehead. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you.” And then she reluctantly pulled away, walked to her door, and walked through it.


	11. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Elijah packs and deals with plane schedules, Hayley gets things ready for him to come home. From dealing with Vincent, to shopping. But, a conversation with Josh threatens to complicate things.

**~The Path To Forever~**

She opened her eyes to see her best friend and future sister-in-law staring worriedly at her. “So, did you know what my daughter was up to?”

“Hayley, please. You have to understand—”

Hayley cut her off. “I don’t want an apology, Freya. I want you to make it up to me.”

“How can I do that?”

Hayley gave her a wicked grin. “Simple. You can find yourself a hotel room to stay at for a few days.”

“You’re really that mad at me that you’re kicking me out of my own house?”

Hayley laughed. “Well, unless you _want_ to listen to your brother and I making up for seven years apart… I’m not shy, Freya. And I intend to be loud.”

“Elijah’s coming home? Well… I should probably make myself scarce for a few days, then. Do me a favor?”

“What’s that?”

“If any part of this reunion takes place outside of yours and Elijah’s bedrooms… don’t tell me about it.”

Hayley just laughed. “Deal.” And then her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID, but didn’t recognize the number. Then she smiled. No, she wouldn’t recognize it, would she? She accepted the call. “Hey there, sexy. So, guess who has a whole big house all to themselves for a few days?”

“How did you manage that?”

“Umm… I started out by pretending I was mad at her for helping Hope. Then threatened her with being loud.”

Elijah laughed. “Is she still nearby?”

“Nope. I think she’s going to pack.”

He just laughed harder. “I see. So, what are your plans for today?”

“Clean your room. Go do a bit of shopping.” And then she heard a voice. A voice she very much did not want to hear. When she had told Elijah that they would have the house to themselves, she forgot that Freya wasn’t the only one that lived there with her. And her other roommate was someone Elijah did not need to deal with when he got home. “Shit!”

“Hayley?” The concern in his voice was obvious.

“I just got something else added to my to-do list, that’s all. And, as much as I would love to sit here and talk to you about all the things I intend to do to you when you get home… I need to go scratch that particular item off, now.”

“What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Just… Vincent also lives here. I need to go change that. You are _not_ dealing with him, right now.”

“Oh. I see. Well, in that case, I’m going to call my brother, pack, and head to Marseilles to catch a plane. I’ll call you later, keep you up to date on my travel plans. And, I’ll see you, tomorrow. God! I can’t wait to have you in my arms again for real. Remembering you made those seven years apart… suddenly I feel like I’ve been missing you for seven years, not just a week.”

“Well, that’s about to change. I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you.”

Hayley ended the call and walked down to the courtyard where Freya was talking to Vincent. Probably telling him he should pack some things and go elsewhere for a few days.

“Actually, Vincent, I suggest you pack all of your things. Because you won’t be back. In fact, you really might want to consider leaving the city entirely. Because I’m giving you a pass, today. The next time I see you, I will kill you.”

“Hayley!”

“I’m not going to apologize, Freya. And I will be damned if I’m going to ask your brother to live in the same house as this bastard. But, it’s your house, so it’s your choice. Vincent can stay here. But, then Elijah and I are moving out.”

“What is going on, Hayley? What is your sudden problem with Vincent?”

Hayley didn’t answer her. Instead, she turned to Vincent. “You are an infection on my city. You have absolutely no virtue, and you have no value, here or wherever it is that you decide to drag yourself next. I feel so sorry for that little girl, that she’s gotta be raised in a household with a punk like you. And I’m gonna be praying for her soul. Because I know you ain’t got one.”

She saw Freya frowning out of the corner of her eye. “What in the world is that supposed to mean? What little girl?”

“Hope. It’s what Vincent said to Elijah. It’s the real reason Elijah had his memories erased. That magic amnesia he had Marcel give him was him committing suicide. Vincent here convinced him the world would be better off without him in it — admittedly helped by my reaction to what happened in your pendant. So, Elijah died the only way he could. I just thank God that he just asked Marcel to compel him to forget us and not to bite him. Though, I doubt Marcel would have done it, because of what that would do to Rebekah.”

Vincent had been getting paler and paler with every word that came out of Hayley’s mouth as she quoted his own words back to him. “Hayley, Freya. It was said in the heat of the moment. You have to understand—”

“I understand, perfectly, Vincent. You’ve always hated my family. I honestly don’t know how you managed to spend the past seven years pretending to be mine and Freya’s friend, and caring about Hope.”

“I was not pretending, Hayley. I am your friend. I do care about Hope.”

“Right. Did you even look into anything else that could possibly have been done about the Hollow? Or did you just jump at this solution because it got the Mikaelsons out of your city?” She laughed. “Your city. Like it was ever your city. You may have been born here, but this is their city. They built it.” She sighed. “But, that’s neither here nor there. The point is, you claim to be our friend, and to care about Hope, while being instrumental in taking our family away from us. While having told the love of my life - Freya’s little brother - that the world would be better off without him in it. Hope is a Mikaelson, too, Vincent. Not just any Mikaelson. She’s Klaus’s daughter. How long did she have before you started to hate her just as much as you hate the rest of them? How did you ever even tolerate me? I may be younger than they are, but I’m not really all that different.”

The bastard had the nerve to turn to Freya then. “Freya, please. You have to listen to me. You have to understand. I said that right after we did the ritual to save the Harvest Girls. The ones that Elijah killed, not knowing if I would actually be able to bring them back. It was said in anger.”

Hayley scoffed. “You sounded pretty damn calm to me, Vincent. You looked pretty damn calm, too. So, don’t even start.”

“Get out.”

“Freya…”

“Get out! Even if it wasn’t over something like that… You really expect me to choose you over my little brother? Maybe family doesn’t mean anything to you, but it’s all I have. And after that? Leave town, Vincent. And, watch your back. Because, I really can’t guarantee that Klaus won’t hunt you down and kill you.”

“You’re not going to tell him this?”

“I just might end up showing him. The others have a right to know what you did. They have a right to know the real reason their brother abandoned them. They need to know that it wasn’t about them.”

“Get! Out!” Freya seriously looked like her head was going to explode.

But, Vincent finally got the hint and went to his room to pack.

Hayley looked over at Freya. “I’m sorry. This is not how I wanted you to find out. And Elijah would have much preferred if none of us ever found out. But… what I said to him was true. You all have a right to know the truth.”

“How did you find out? You quoted him word for word. Mentioned how calm he sounded and looked. Threatened to show Klaus.”

Hayley sighed. “Hope is… definitely a Mikaelson. My key to get out of the dreamscape thing was actually talking to Elijah. It fell into his lap while we were kissing.” Freya laughed at that, but said nothing, letting Hayley continue. “Except, the keys didn’t take us completely out. Instead, they took us to that hallway in Elijah’s head. Klaus had a door to exit. Elijah and I had the red door.”

“She didn’t.”

“I think her only intention was for us to watch what happened the last time I was in there. A way for me to have him by my side when I faced that side of him, again. She’s fifteen. I don’t pretend to understand how her mind works. But, the problem was, Elijah couldn’t help thinking about all the things behind that door that he really didn’t want me to know about.”

“And since you were in his head, the act of him thinking about those things showed them to you.”

“Exactly. I watched him kill Tatia. I watched him help your parents bind Klaus’s werewolf side. I watched him help you kill Davina… you really need to talk to Kol about that, by the way.”

“I know. I just haven’t found the words. But, I know.”

“He showed me the night on the bridge, when he killed Marcel. And he showed me the night him and Vincent did the Harvest ritual. And then, we finally got to what was probably the reason I was there. And we watched the last time I was behind that door. We had a lot of talks. Though none of them were long enough. We’re going to have to talk about it all at more length, soon. But… We watched all of that, together. We watched my reaction to it. And then… we were back in that hallway, and this time we each had real doors. And we woke up. We have so much to talk about. It’s going to be hard to decide where to start. But… yeah. I watched it. I watched all of it. He’s a mess, Freya. Like, I wish Cami was here for him to talk to. Because I can be supportive, and I can love him. But, I’m not a shrink. I don’t know if I can help him. I honestly don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“Well, that’s a problem for another time. Right now, loving him and being there and supportive are all any of us can do. Maybe that little trip down memory lane of his will have convinced him that he does need some kind of help. He maybe can’t see an actual psychiatrist, but he can at least talk to us. We’ll get him through this, Hayley. Somehow.”

Hayley nodded. And then, something occurred to her. “Maybe he _can_ see a psychiatrist. He can do what Klaus did with Cami, at first. Compel one. Have them forget most of what he tells them when he’s not around, and only remember when he’s there. It worked for Klaus and Cami.”

“From what I understand, it also made Cami think she was losing her mind.”

“I didn’t say it was a good plan. But, what is my other option? To turn a psychiatrist to make them be the Mikaelson family therapist?” Which… actually might not be a bad idea. The entire family seriously needed therapy.

“I would talk to Caroline. See if she has any ideas, before you go compelling or turning shrinks for him. But, maybe that school of hers actually has a councilor that might have some suggestions. But, that really is a problem for another time. The first order of business is to get ready for him to come home. And, on that note, I’m going to go pack.”

“All right. Well, even if he managed to get onto a non-stop flight the minute he got to Marseilles, we still have almost twenty hours before he gets here. I’m going to go do some shopping.”

“Oh? What kind of shopping? Can I come with?”

“I want to pick up some of his favorite foods. And some candles. I’m debating on if I want to buy some sexy lingerie or just be wearing one of his shirts.”

“I had to ask, didn’t I?” She sighed. “I would do both. I mean… you’re moving in together, right? You can never have too much sexy lingerie. But, maybe just be wearing his shirt when he gets home tomorrow.”

Hayley laughed. “I like the way you think. So… are you going shopping with me?”

“You know, I think I will. Granted, I’ll be trying really hard not to think about the fact that it’s my little brother who will be taking this stuff off of you, but… I’m always up for a shopping trip.”

Hayley shook her head, and then vamp-sped to her room, grabbed her purse, and ran back down. “Alright, then. Let’s go shopping. For things I will probably only be wearing for a few minutes, before your brother takes them off of me. Possibly with his teeth.”

“Stop! Why are you torturing me?”

“Because you’re my best friend, and it’s fun.”

Freya just laughed and shook her head. “Lead the way, brat.”

**~The Path To Forever~**

Elijah ended the call with Hayley and then called Niklaus, putting the phone on speaker so he could talk while getting things done.

“I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. Why aren’t you on the phone with Hayley?”

“She’s… taking care of some things. Getting ready for me to move back home.” He grabbed his suitcase and put it on the bed, then started tossing things into it.

“Moving in together, huh? That’s a big step. Are you sure you’re ready for it?”

Elijah rolled his eyes. “Enough with the jokes, brother.”

“All right, but in all seriousness, how is that going to work?”

“I’ll stay at the compound while Hope is away at school. When she comes home, I’ll go to Baton Rouge. I’m going to get myself an apartment there, to have a kind of home away from home. We’ll make this work. It’s… honestly what we should have done from the beginning. We have a lot to talk about. Not the least of which is… everything leading up to the past seven years. I’m not looking forward to that.”

“No. I can’t imagine that you are. But, you do need to talk to her about it. I hope that eventually, you’ll also talk to me about it. And Kol and Rebekah. You’ll be living with Freya, so I don’t need to remind you that you owe her an explanation. She’ll drag it out of you whether you like it or not. But…”

“Yeah. I owe all of you an explanation. And not just for that. I need to talk to Kol and Davina about what Freya and I did. And, I need to talk to Marcel about that night on the bridge. And… I don’t know if I ever actually apologized to you for helping our parents bind you…”

“Elijah, that was a thousand years ago. We’re fine. I promise. I love you. And we’re fine. You don’t owe me anything. You just worry about fixing things with your girlfriend. Someday, I want to dance at your wedding.”

“That’s going to be a little hard, don’t you think?”

“There’s always astral projection. But, I’m looking for witches that can maybe help us deal with the Hollow once and for all. We’re going to get our family back, Elijah. Someday, I want to walk my little girl down the aisle, hold my grandchildren. We’ll fix this. I promise.”

“Well, I’m going to head to the airport. I’ll call you, later.”

Niklaus laughed. “I’ll talk to you in a few days. I imagine you’re going to be quite busy making it up to Hayley for abandoning her. I do hope that you’re up for the task, big brother. You might want to eat a few flight attendants on the way. You’re going to need your strength.”

“Must you be so vulgar, Niklaus?”

“Yes, I must. It’s part of my charm. I’ll talk to you in a few days.”

Elijah ended the call, closed his suitcase, picked it up, and headed downstairs. He stopped at the bar and told the bartender that he was going to be out of town for a while and then walked out.

He was going home. Home to Hayley. He still wasn’t sure how that had happened, how she still loved him and wanted to be with him after everything he had done. But, she did. Oh, they definitely had a lot to talk about. But, for the first time in a long time, he truly believed that it was going to be okay. They were going to be okay.

He pulled out his phone and called for a cab to take him to the airport. He was going home.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Hayley had a hard time convincing herself that she didn’t need one of everything in the store. Granted, she was immortal. So, it wasn’t like she wasn’t going to have plenty of time to model all of this stuff for Elijah. But, still.

Freya handed her a lacy bra and pantie set, in olive green. “Here. You need at least one thing in this color. It matches your eyes. It also comes with a matching robe. And I do not believe I’m actually helping you pick out things like this.”

Hayley laughed and took the offending items off of Freya’s hands. “It’s not like I didn’t warn you.”

“I know. Call me a martyr. Apparently, it runs in the family. I swear, I am going to murder that man. I cannot believe he really thought… God! Speaking of murdering people, I’m proud of you.”

“For?”

“For not murdering Vincent. I’m honestly not sure how I kept from doing it. That took some serious self-control.”

“Yeah, well… I was feeling generous. I was in a good mood. After all, Elijah is coming home. I still can’t believe it. It feels like a dream.”

Freya smiled. “I know. But, you know that we need to talk about that, too. I mean, him coming home is a good thing. And I’m not going to ask you how you’re going to handle the logistics. You two are intelligent enough to have thought of the external problems and come up with solutions.”

Hayley nodded. “He’ll stay with us while Hope is in school. We’re going to look for an apartment for him in Baton Rouge for when Hope is home. He’s not going to risk her.”

“Good. Glad that you’ve already got that straightened out. But, you do know that there is another issue. Declan. He’s not going to just disappear, Hayley. Hope wants him to take Father Kieran’s place on the council.”

“Well, that explains that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Declan is in France. Elijah has met him. I’m guessing Hope sent him there.”

“Probably. She needed someone to keep an eye on his body while he was in the chambre de chasse. Though, it seems kind of cruel to have that someone be Declan.”

Hayley shrugged. “Well, speaking of the council, what are we going to do about Vincent? Because, seriously. If I see him again, I am going to kill him.”

“Stand in line. I can probably speak for the witches. Or else we’ll find someone else. Get Davina out here to talk to them and find his replacement if they won’t talk to me. We’ll figure this out.”

Hayley nodded, then took her armful of purchases to the counter to pay for them. They took everything out to the car. “Okay. Now for candles.”

“Do I even want to know what the candles are for?”

“Well, I want to get a few tapers for the dining room table. Have a nice romantic dinner. But, also… I’m not going to lie, I also want to get some candles for our bedroom. Make that romantic, too.”

“Oh Lord. Do try not to burn the compound down, please? I kind of like living there.”

Hayley just laughed. And then her phone rang. She glanced at the called I.D. and smiled when she saw that it was Elijah. “Hey sexy. How are the travel plans coming?”

“I’m at the airport. I’ve missed the only non-stop flight to New Orleans, today. So, I’m flying to Paris, and catching a flight from there. But, we’re boarding, now. I just wanted to hear your voice and tell you what’s going on. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Have a good flight. Call me from Paris if you have time?”

“Of course.” And then he was gone, again.

“I hate how far away he is. This sucks so much.”

“Well, after tomorrow, you won’t have this problem, anymore. Baton Rouge isn’t far. He can drive that and not be at the mercy of plane schedules.”

“True. But, God! I just miss him. Our time in the dreamscape hardly counts. I just want to hold him in my arms for real, you know?”

“I know. Believe me, I know. My girlfriend is on the other side of the world, too. And it sucks.”

“Speaking of your girlfriend, now that Elijah is back and prepared to take up the mantle of family patriarch again, does that mean that you’ll be getting ready to settle down?”

Freya actually blushed. “I’d like that. I really would. But, I don’t know if that’s really something she would want. She enjoys her work, and the good she’s doing in the world. And, leaving New Orleans isn’t really an option for me. Do I really have a right to ask her to choose?”

“If you don’t put it as an ultimatum, absolutely. You sound willing to let the status quo hold. So, you wouldn’t really be asking her to choose. At least, not like that. You’d be asking her to choose between the way things are now and the way you would like them to be. That’s very different.”

“Listen to you. Miss relationship expert. Who, up until like a week ago, was totally leading poor Declan on and using him for sex while pining over Elijah.”

Hayley looked down. “I know. Believe me, I know. I was horrible to him. For years. I never really considered him to be my boyfriend. To me, it was a strictly friends with benefits arrangement. I don’t think I realized that it meant a lot more than that to him, until he showed up with that ring. I never meant to hurt him, Freya. And I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about him.”

“You’re going to have to talk to him, Hayley. He deserves that much. But… Hope is right. And, Vincent was the biggest dissenter. I’m on board with it, and I think Josh is, too. Which brings us to the question of what you’re going to do when Declan takes his rightful place on the council.”

“I don’t know. I’d like to think that I can be professional if he can. I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? Because, he has my vote, too. I say we make it unanimous.”

“Good. Then, if he wants it, confirming him will be our first order of business at the next meeting. This should be interesting.”

“Yeah. Actually… you may need to call Keelin back for another reason. I don’t know if the wolves will really accept me speaking for them, anymore. Lisina would be the next logical choice, but she made it clear that she would rather handle the day-to-day stuff of the pack themselves, and leave things like the council to me.”

“Hayley, you are still their Alpha. I honestly can’t see them turning on you because of something that isn’t your fault. They didn’t turn their backs on you when you became a hybrid. I don’t think they’ll really turn their backs on you, now.”

“Not turning their backs on me, and continuing to consider me their Alpha, could very well be two different things.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

“Hayley!”

Hayley spun around to see Josh standing there, staring at her. “Hey Josh. What’s up?”

“Have you seen… I mean… when’s the last time you talked to Hope?”

“That would be before she trapped me, Klaus, and Elijah in a dreamscape thing, and made Elijah and I talk. Then, forced us both through the red door in his head and gave me a front row seat to his worst memories, including reliving the last time I was behind that door. And, now I’m guessing that you’re about to tell me that you knew what she was planning?”

“Yeah. Declan told me. After we talked a bit about the lovely family history your daughter told him. You should know, that he knows everything. And Hope wants him on the council.”

“I know. Can Freya and I count on your vote? Make welcoming him unanimous?”

“Unanimous? How did you convince Vincent?”

Freya snorted. “By telling him to leave town, because the next time she sees him, she’s going to kill him. Long story that has nothing to do with Declan, or the council, and is a family matter.”

“And, while you absolutely are family, it’s not up to me to tell you about it. Elijah isn’t getting a vote on whether his siblings find out. They deserve to know. But, I can’t tell you about it without his permission.”

“Understood. I won’t ask you to betray his confidence. But, yeah. I’ve already told Declan that he has my vote. So, since we’re unanimous, do we even need to have a formal vote? Or can we just figure on him being at the next meeting?”

“Honestly? I say we just figure on him being at the next meeting. It’s not like we keep minutes or any kind of official records.”

Josh laughed. “So, how did things go? Are you and Elijah back together?”

“Yeah. We still have a lot to talk about, but we got the misunderstanding cleared up, and we’re back together. We’ll figure the rest out. In the meantime, he’s coming home. And, before you ask, we already have plans to deal with the whole Hope situation.”

“Good. I’m glad. I really hope that you two manage to make it work, this time. You deserve to be happy. You both do.” He sighed. “Actually, though… there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

“Should it wait until we have Declan here?”

Josh shook his head. “This isn’t about the city. It’s about Hope.”

Hayley froze. “What… what about Hope?”

“When I called her to find out if she had told Declan everything, because he was asking some very interesting questions, in a round-about way. Trying to get information, starting with me confirming that it was safe to talk to me about it. Which… unrelated to Hope is why he has my vote for the council. He proved he could be trusted with the truth when he didn’t want to be the one to tell me. Which… is not related to this. Anyway… I called her to find out if it was okay to talk to him and answer his questions. And she called herself the Crescent pack Alpha. Not the future Alpha. The Alpha. I didn’t really catch it at the time. But… Hayley… I can’t help wondering if she’s thinking of intentionally triggering her curse so that she can take your place in the pack, now that you’re technically not a wolf, anymore.”

Hayley could only stare at him in horror. Then she closed her eyes. “This is all my fault. I played it up, made it sound amazing. I don’t know what I was thinking. I think… I was just trying to talk her out of agreeing to be bound. I didn’t mean for her to trigger it, now. I just… she’s a Mikaelson. And, she’s going to be a vampire. Even if she went her entire mortal life without triggering her curse, there’s no way she’ll never drain someone dry. I was just trying to prepare her. Not convince her to do it now. I… dammit! I don’t need this, right now.”

“Sorry. Maybe I should have waited to talk to you about it later.”

“No. This isn’t your fault. And, you absolutely should have told me. I need to call Caroline and have her be on alert. And, I need to talk to Hope. Talk her out of this.” She rubbed at her eyes. “I don’t know what she’s thinking.”

“Marcel said something, when Hope talked to us about Declan. He pointed out that Hope isn’t just a Mikaelson. That she’s also a Labonair. He told us that we had just met the future Alpha of the Crescent wolf pack, and that he thought they were in good hands. That’s what she’s thinking, Hayley. She’s a Labonair. She’s thinking that it’s time she claimed her birthright. Honestly, we should have all seen this coming then”

Freya gasped. “All that talk about the city being as much Declan’s birthright as hers, and how he should take ‘his rightful place on the council’. Declan wasn’t the only person she thought should take their rightful place, was he? She was talking about herself, too. She was talking about her taking her own rightful place. As the Crescent Alpha. Marcel was right. She told us. And none of us caught it.”

“Well… that’s not really your fault. It’s one thing to realize in hindsight just what she was really saying. Catching it at the time is a whole different story. You couldn’t really have seen this coming. It’s not any of your fault. I need to talk to her.”

Freya was looking thoughtful. “Actually, no. You don’t. At least, not yet. I have to leave the compound for a few days, anyway. So, instead of going to a hotel or something, I’m going to go to Mystic Falls. I’ll warn Caroline, and talk to Hope. See if I can talk her out of this. All I want you thinking about for the next several days is Elijah and making up for lost time.”

“Well, I certainly want to do that, but… she’s my daughter, Freya. I should definitely be dealing with this.”

“Look. She’s also my niece. And, talking to her and figuring out what is going on in her head is something I can do for you. Dealing with Elijah is something that only you can do.” When Hayley smirked at her, she laughed. “I don’t even mean just that. But, you two have a lot to talk about, too. And, he’ll open up to you in a way he won’t to me. Or, anyone else, really. _Maybe_ Klaus can get him to talk about all of that. But, I don’t even have much hope of that, much less anybody else. Besides, what will it do to him if he comes home specifically to be with you, and you aren’t here when he gets here? Do you really want any part of him wondering if you’ve changed your mind? I’ll deal with Hope. You deal with Elijah.”

Hayley just nodded. Then she hugged Josh. “Well, we should get going. I have a house to clean, and apparently Freya has a plane to catch. Thank you for telling me about this, Josh. We’ll call when Declan gets back and arrange a time and place for our first meeting with him. This is not me blowing you off. I just—”

Josh cut her off with a laugh. “Go! If the love of my life was coming home after seven years away, you would be the last person I would want to talk to, too. I am not offended. Have fun. And I’ll talk to you later.” And then he was gone.

“Well… we should get home so that I can finish packing and get myself to Mystic Falls to deal with Hope and her latest scheme. I swear, that girl. She’s too much like her father. Act first, think later.”

Hayley laughed. “For what it’s worth, in case you haven’t figured it out, she gets that as much from me as from Klaus. My impulsiveness may not lean towards ripping off heads, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. She definitely comes by it, honestly.”

The women both laughed as they walked to their car and drove home.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Luckily for him, Vincent was gone when they got home. A part of Hayley wondered where he would be dragging himself to. But, she really didn’t care. As long as neither her or Elijah ever saw the bastard again, he could do whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted. Though, she had no doubts that Klaus would have a very different opinion when he found out about this. But, that wasn’t her problem. Her job was to protect Elijah’s sanity.

She saw Freya off and then went into Elijah’s room. She had just started straightening up when her phone rang. She smiled as she answered it. “Hey there!”

“Hey there, beautiful. I don’t have much time to talk. But, I couldn’t get onto a plane for eighteen hours without hearing your voice first. This is going to be the longest eighteen hours of my life, I swear.”

Hayley laughed. “Mine too. But, that’s okay. You can sleep, and I’ll be cleaning, and sleeping, and… getting things set up for your return. It’ll help the time go by.”

“And what, exactly, does ‘getting things set up’ entail?”

“You’re just going to have to use your imagination. If I tell you, it’ll ruin the surprise.”

“You do know that my imagination wants to turn to some very… shall we say… not safe for work territory…”

“So, let it. It might actually end up pretty close, that way.”

There was silence for several seconds. “Well, now I’m really intrigued. Also, you are going to be the death of me.” There was the sound of someone speaking over a loudspeaker then. But, even Hayley’s hearing couldn’t quite make out the actual words. Then again, she wondered if the people there could, either. Those things had a distressing tendency to not be exactly clear. “Shit! We’re boarding. I guess I’ll see you in about eighteen hours, then. Get some sleep, I don’t really intend for either of us to do much sleeping for a very long time once I’m home.”

“Mmm… I like the sound of that! But, you need to go before you miss your plane and we have to postpone that even longer. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” And then the phone went dead.

Eighteen hours. She didn’t know how she was going to survive it. She looked around Elijah’s bedroom. Well… she at least had things to do to keep herself busy while she waited. And, she definitely was going to need to get some sleep.

Elijah was coming home.


	12. Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haylijah reunion. Do I need to say more?

Hayley looked around Elijah’s bedroom in satisfaction. Part of her wondered why she was going to this much trouble. It wasn’t like either of them were actually going to be paying any attention to their surroundings, anyway. But, she couldn’t help it. She couldn’t help wanting everything to be perfect for him. Even if he was actually too impatient to get her naked to care.

She giggled at that. His comment on what he was going to be imagining if left to his own devices was so unlike him. But, it was also weirdly sweet. And she couldn’t help liking that he was thinking like that. Also, the fact that he could be that playful despite everything he’d been through was a good sign. Maybe he really was going to be okay, after all.

She pushed that thought away. She wasn’t going to think about any of that, right now. Their problems could wait. Today was going to be about reconnecting and making up for lost time. The much-needed long talks would come later. First, they were going to enjoy themselves.

She walked downstairs and into the dining room and started getting things set up, there. She had planned on a dinner of little tidbits that didn’t need to be cooked. She wasn’t about to try to cook before Elijah got home. Either he would arrive before it was done and it would burn — possibly taking the entire compound with it — or it would go cold while they were… reuniting. So, mostly fruit and cheese. There was a bottle of champagne chilling in a cooler.

She set the table with plates, champagne flutes and wine glasses. To a human, the two different glasses would seem odd. But, there were also two blood bags in the refrigerator next to the cheese tray. They were going to need it to keep their strength up, after all. She put out the candlesticks she had bought the day before and set the tapers into them, then went back upstairs to take a shower.

Once out of the shower, she applied shimmery body lotion that would catch and reflect the candlelight, dressed in a pair of red lace panties and one of Elijah’s dress shirts, dried her hair with a diffuser to get it to curl nicely, and applied light make-up. Though, she also dusted a bit of shimmer powder over that, as well. She looked critically at herself in the mirror, hoping that it would all actually give the effect she was going for. It was hard to tell in the harsher lighting in the bathroom.

Her phone rang then and she answered it without even looking at the caller I.D. “Hey there, sexy.”

“Well, that’s hardly the greeting I expected. Expecting someone else, love?”

“Klaus! What the Hell do you want, right now?”

“Okay, that’s also not quite the greeting I was expecting. I was actually calling to see if everything is okay, over there. I called Freya to tell her that she should come hang out with me for a while to get out of yours and Elijah’s hair. Except, she didn’t exactly sound happy to hear from me, and let me go after only a couple minutes. Then didn’t answer when I tried calling her back. I was hoping that you would know what’s going on with her?”

“Yeah. And it’s a long story. That I don’t have time to get into. Your brother’s plane should be landing any minute. If Freya isn’t answering your calls, try Caroline, or Hope.”

“Meaning that Freya is in Mystic Falls. Interesting. Seriously, what is going on?”

“Right now, what’s going on is that I am trying to finish getting ready for Elijah to come home. Unless you want details, I suggest you let me get to it.”

“No. I think I can go without details about your planned sexcapades with my brother. I’d tell you to have fun, but… I’m guessing that’s already the plan.”

Hayley groaned. “Goodbye, Klaus. I’ll have Elijah call you, later. Or… probably tomorrow… Maybe the next day… Eventually.”

“Enough! I’ll talk to you later.” And then the phone went dead.

Hayley couldn’t help laughing. She was still laughing when the phone rang again. “Hello?”

“Well, I was expecting a more enthusiastic greeting. You haven’t changed your mind, have you?” He sounded so unsure of himself, that Hayley’s heart broke for him.

“No, not at all. I just got off the phone with your brother. And, I didn’t look at the caller I.D. before answering _that_ call, either.”

Elijah started laughing. “So, Niklaus got my standard greeting, huh? Should I be jealous?”

Hayley rolled her eyes, even though Elijah couldn’t see her. “Oh yes, definitely. You are such a dork.”

“Maybe. But, you love me, anyway. Right?”

Hayley laughed. “With all my heart. So, I take it your plane has landed?”

“Yes, it has. And, imagine my disappointment when I didn’t have anybody waiting for me. No girlfriend, not even a sister.”

“Freya is in Mystic Falls hanging out with Hope. And, I am not exactly dressed for an airport.”

There was silence, and then the sound of Elijah swallowing hard. “I see. Then, I guess I should catch myself a cab. I’ll be home very soon.”

“I’ll be waiting. In your room.”

**~The Path To Forever~**

The woman was trying to kill him. That was the only explanation. “Right. Umm… I’ll see you soon, then. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He ended the call, picked up his suitcase, and headed out of the airport to catch a cab. The cab ride was probably pretty short. But, it felt like an eternity. Hayley was waiting for him. In his room. Not dressed for an airport. He wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but his imagination was coming up with several possibilities. And all of them were very intriguing.

He paid the cab driver. Actually, overpaid the cab driver, because he was too impatient to wait for change. As soon as he was in the house, he dropped both his suitcase and all sense of dignity. And vamp-sped up to his room.

Hayley was sitting on the edge of his bed, wearing nothing but one of his dress shirts. The top was unbuttoned enough to reveal the swells of her breasts, though not enough to not leave things to the imagination. She was absolutely glowing. Which, somehow is what made him notice the rest of what she had done. Every flat surface in the room, except the bed and floor, was covered in candles. He also finally noticed the music playing. Something instrumental. Later, he might pay more attention to it. But, at that moment, all of his attention was on Hayley.

She smiled at him and held out her arms, and his composure snapped. He didn’t even bother to close the door before striding to her, pulling her to her feet, and taking her into his arms. “I’ve missed you, so much,” he whispered. And then his mouth claimed hers. He poured everything into the kiss. Love, passion, need. But, also regret over leaving her, before. Even now, as their tongues tangled together, as she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly to her, there was a part of him hating himself for what he put her through, and wondering how she could forgive him so easily.

She broke the kiss, pulled away a bit, and cupped his face in one hand. “You okay?”

He smiled. “I’m better than okay. I’m here, with the love of my life in my arms. Why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“I don’t know. I just… I guess I’m being silly.”

Except, she wasn’t. Not really. He sat down on the edge of the bed, pulling her down with him. “The truth? I can’t help thinking of what my selfishness cost us, and wondering how I’m even here, right now. How I have you in my arms. How you can possibly not hate me.”

“Elijah. We talked about this.”

He picked up her right hand, and ran his thumb over her ring. “I’m not talking about this.” He kissed her knuckles, then dropped her hand. “I’m talking about this.” He gently tapped her forehead. “And this.” He put his hand to her heart. “I’m talking about how much I hurt you. I’m sorry, Hayley. I’m so sorry. I was just hurting, so much. And I didn’t stop to think about what my leaving like that might do to anyone else. I didn’t stop to think of what it would do to you.”

She put a finger to his lips. “Shh. It’s okay. I live in the now, remember? And you’re here, now. And, I went to a lot of trouble trying to make today perfect. So, can you please put the self-loathing on hold for one day? I promise that we’ll talk about all of this. Everything. But, not today. I have plans for us for today. And they do not include talking.” She gave him a seductive grin. “Well… at least not about things like that.”

“So, what would you like to talk about, instead?”

She picked his hand up, and put it back on her chest. “Is talking really what you want to do, right now? Because I can definitely think of something I’d much rather be doing.”

He smirked at her. “And, what would that be?”

“I’ll give you a hint. It involves your hands on me. And getting you out of those clothes.” She gave him a sweetly vulnerable look. “Make love to me, Elijah. Please. I’ve missed you. And I need you, right now.”

It was the vulnerability in her eyes that shook him. The insecurity. The obvious fear that he would turn her down. He reached up with his free hand and pushed her hair off of her face. “As you wish,” he whispered before kissing her. The kiss was sweet, gentle. Maybe not what she was expecting after all the flirting they had been doing over the phone, yesterday and today. But, it was what he needed. After seven years apart, right now he was still trying to convince himself that she was real. That she was here, in his arms. That despite everything, she didn’t hate him, she still loved him, still wanted him.

He lowered her gently to the bed, then broke the kiss to shift her so that her head was on the pillow and her legs weren’t dangling off the side. He brushed his hand softly over her cheek, and ran his thumb over her lips. “You are so beautiful.”

She just smiled at him, then reached for the hem of his shirt. He chuckled before helping her pull the shirt over his head. Then he laid down on his side next to her. She seemed to understand his need to take this slow. Then again, after all the trouble she had gone through to make this special and romantic, maybe there had been a part of her hoping for this, anyway.

He propped himself up on his elbow, and looked down at her. He couldn’t help but admire the way the candlelight reflected off of her skin. No, he was willing to bet that it wasn’t completely natural. But that just meant one more thing she had done to make today perfect, and he certainly appreciated it.

His free hand once again drifted to her face, then traced a slow path down her neck, across her collarbone, and down her side. He smiled at her small shiver as he skimmed the side of her breast.

“Elijah…”

“Shh. It’s been a very long time, Hayley.”

“Which is why I can’t help being impatient.”

“That’s not how this is going to go. This isn’t going to be quick and dirty and over way too soon. We have seven years to make up for. And I fully intend to take my time relearning you.”

“You’re going to be the death of me.”

“I promise you’ll enjoy it.” He leaned down and kissed her, then. And couldn’t help moaning when he felt her tongue brush against his lips. He opened for her, and she immediately pressed that advantage. Their tongues tangled together as they explored each other’s mouths. Surprisingly, once they deepened the kiss, Hayley seemed content to let Elijah take control, again. Even though he was going slower than she would probably prefer.

Elijah skimmed his hand back up, then, being careful not to pull the material of the shirt she was wearing with him. Once he reached her collarbone, he traced it until he reached the front of her throat. And then moved down to slowly start unbuttoning her shirt. He broke the kiss and pulled away to look down at her. He couldn’t help but smile at the way her skin shimmered in the light. Whatever she had done, she did it before getting dressed.

“What did you do?”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I may be just a guy, and clueless about a lot of things, but I’m pretty sure that not all of this glow is natural.”

Hayley laughed. “Leave it to you to try to get a lady to reveal her secrets. It’s my body lotion. It has something in it to make it shimmer. I…” She ducked her head, but not before he noticed the flush starting. “I wanted to be pretty for you. I told you. I wanted today to be perfect.”

“You are beautiful. You didn’t have to go through all this to be pretty. Not that I’m not enjoying the result. And I certainly appreciate the effort. But, you don’t have to ever do anything special on my account. Okay?”

“Okay. But, I wanted to. And, you might as well get used to it. I… I like doing things like this, for you. So, candles and me wearing shimmery body lotion might not be an every night thing, but they are definitely going to be a thing. Now, enough talking.”

He smirked at her, then, and leaned down. But, he didn’t kiss her. Instead, he lowered his mouth to her ear. “You look good enough to eat. That lotion of yours isn’t going to make that a problem, is it?”

She shivered. “I can safely say that you’ll survive.”

“Good.” And then he kissed the spot on her neck, just below her ear, making her moan.

Elijah spent quite a bit of time exploring Hayley’s body, with hands, lips, tongue. He moved over her slowly, gently. Relearning what she felt like, tasted like. And what she liked. What made her moan. What made her cry out. And what made her beg him to stop teasing her and just take her, already.

A sentiment that his own body desperately agreed with. Over the course of his exploration he had removed both her shirt and the scrap of red lace that had been the only thing under it. And while he had tried to make it all about her, her own hands hadn’t been idle. He wasn’t entirely sure when she had gotten his pants off of him, but he was hardly going to complain. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he covered her body with his own and pushed himself into her.

He stilled as her cry of pleasure rang in his ears. Somehow, hearing her made it even better. He smiled and leaned down to kiss her softly before starting to move. Slowly and gently, once again relearning her, what it felt like to be inside her. Relearned what she sounded like, moaning in pleasure as he moved within her.

Her eyes were open, she was watching him as he watched her. Another simple, small thing that increased his pleasure, knowing that she wanted it to be good for him, too. Her hands started moving restlessly over his back, her moans getting louder, while her body moved in time with his. He picked up the pace, and groaned when she continued to match him. And then he felt her tighten around him, and the sound of his name rang in his ears as she came apart.

He slowed down, then. Moving gently once again. Until she started moaning and moving with him. When he kissed her again, it was more passionate. He couldn’t handle slow and gentle, anymore. His body was screaming for it’s own release. He reached between them to caress her as he picked up the pace, and started moving more forcefully within her.

She wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him to her while they moved together. And this, time, when she cried out his name, he let go of the stranglehold he had on his own pleasure and gladly followed her over that cliff.

It was several long minutes before he found the strength to pull out of her and roll over onto his back, pulling her with him so that her head was on his chest. He kissed the top of her head and smoothed her hair. “I love you.” It wasn’t everything he wanted to say. Not by a long shot. But, it was all he could manage at the time.

She lifted herself up a bit to kiss him softly. “I love you, too. And I’ve missed you, so much.”

“I’m sorry—”

She put a finger to his lips. “Later. We’ll talk, tomorrow. Today is just about being together, again. The very long talk I know we need to have can wait. Please? Don’t do this now, Elijah. Give me one day. That’s all I ask. Just one day to pretend that the last seven years didn’t happen. Or at least, not the way they did. Okay?”

He nodded. “Okay. If that’s what you need. We’ll talk, tomorrow.” His arms tightened around her, and he ran his hands up and down her back. Just enjoying the feeling of having her in his arms, again. “So, do you have any other plans for today?”

“Actually, I do.” She stood up and pulled his shirt back on, then tossed him his pants. “Get dressed. Give me five minutes, then come downstairs to the dining room.” She looked around the room at the candles and groaned. “Actually, we should probably blow these out. I did promise Freya that I wouldn’t burn the compound down.”

Elijah laughed as he pulled his pants on. Then they both walked around the room, blowing out all of the candles Hayley had lit in preparation for their reunion. Once the last one was blown out, he smirked at her. “Okay, your time starts now. Honestly, you should have just gone down. Blowing out a few dozen candles would have given me something to do while I was waiting to be able to join you.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll see you downstairs in a few minutes.” And then she was gone.

Elijah sat down on the edge of the bed and closed his eyes. This felt like a dream. A beautiful dream that he didn’t want to wake up from. He thought of the box in the basement. The things he had packed up before leaving. There was something in there that he wanted to show her. He considered going to get it, now. But, no. It could wait. Tomorrow. After they talked about everything they needed to talk about. Tomorrow he would show her the deed to the cabin he had bought, and offer her a fresh start.

There was one other thing. Something that wasn’t in that box. Something he hadn’t wanted to risk her finding. The thing he had been afraid would break her heart. But, they weren’t ready for him to ask for that back, yet. He would call Marcel later. After he and Hayley talked. And got to know each other, again. He couldn’t ask her to pretend the past seven years never happened. He couldn’t ask her to just go back to those months between when he woke up and when everything fell apart like the time since then didn’t matter. The cabin was one thing. They were moving in together, anyway. Doing so somewhere other than the compound made sense. To ask for more than that, right now… No. They weren’t ready for that. Seven years ago, they had been. But, that was before he threw it all away. He couldn’t ask her for forever until he had earned her trust, again.

But, he was pretty sure it had been close to five minutes. He opened his eyes, stood up, and walked downstairs to the dining room. He had to smile when he saw what she had done. There were two places set, across from each other, with a pair of lit candles between them. The plates held an assortment of fruit and cheese, cut into bite sized pieces. There was a bottle of champagne nestled in a bucket of ice. Though, there were two glasses at each plate — a champagne flute and a wine glass that was already full of what looked like red wine. Though, considering the champagne, he had a feeling that that was not wine, at all.

The woman was so intent on making everything perfect that she had found a way to even make them drinking blood romantic. He did not deserve her. Not in the slightest. “You’re spoiling me.”

She looked up and smiled. “I have a right to, I think. I wanted to cook for you. Make something special for dinner. But, I promised Freya I wouldn’t burn the compound down and I didn’t trust myself to remember that I had food in the oven.”

He laughed. “This is perfect, Hayley. Just relax. You really don’t have to go to this much trouble for me. All I need is you.” He walked over to her and brushed her hair off of her face. “Not that I don’t appreciate all of your effort. You’ve made today so beautiful and perfect. And so much more than I deserve.”

She opened her mouth, probably to argue with him. This time, he was the one to stop her with a finger to her lips. “That isn’t me being a martyr and trying to talk about what I did to you. But, I really don’t deserve you. You are too good for me. But, I am so incredibly grateful that you think differently. And I promise that this time, I’m here for good. We’re going to make this work, Hayley. I promise you.”

“I know. But, we should eat. I also have dessert waiting.”

He couldn’t help it. “Are you dessert?”

She flushed. “I certainly can be. Though, I also have an actual dessert.”

He kissed her cheek, then walked over to the table and pulled one of the chairs out. When she started to walk to the other one, he just raised an eyebrow at her.

“Oh. Right. Always the gentleman.”

“I try.” He took her hand and kissed it, before helping her into her seat, and pushing the chair in. He took his own seat and then reached across the table to take her hand. He couldn’t seem to stop touching her. Not that she seemed to mind.

Dinner was spent in companionable silence. They drank their blood, and then Elijah poured them both a glass of champagne. They toasted to the future, before starting on the fruit and cheese Hayley had set out. Feeding each other more often than themselves. Which was maybe not a great idea.

He hissed as Hayley’s lips closed around his fingers. Which caused a giggle. Because, of course the little minx knew exactly what that was about.

“You okay, over there, Elijah?”

“I’m perfectly. Better than fine. I’m sitting in my family home, eating dinner with the love of my life, who is wearing nothing but my shirt. And who is driving me absolutely mad.”

She laughed. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“On whether you intend to stop teasing me, soon.”

She licked her lips. “Who said I was teasing?”

He groaned. “Finish eating, Hayley. You’re going to need your strength.”

She laughed and picked up a piece of watermelon and popped it into her mouth. And then gave him a seductive grin as she sucked the juice off of her fingers.

“You are going to be the death of me,” he growled.

“We can’t have that, now. I just got you back.”

Elijah just shook his head and went back to his food. He tried to ignore Hayley’s antics. Not that that was easy. Actually, it was almost impossible.

And then something occurred to him. He had watched her get dressed. And  _all_ she was wearing was his shirt. There was absolutely nothing underneath it. A thought that was immediately followed by the realization of just how quickly he could be inside her. He caught her eyes, then. And apparently what he was thinking about was obvious, because she gasped.

Before he had a chance so say anything, Hayley stood up, blew out the candles, and walked over to him. He pushed his chair away from the table and turned it sideways. And was rewarded by Hayley straddling him, wrapping her arms around him, and kissing him passionately. Her hips rocked against him, and soon she was moaning against his mouth. God, he wanted her.

A sentiment that she seemed to share. She stood up, and let go of him to grip the waistband of his pants. He lifted his hips and she yanked his pants off and then her lips were on his, again. Her tongue tangled with his, and she moaned into his mouth as she lowered herself onto him, taking him inside her.

She broke the kiss, then. Throwing her head back and gasping and moaning as she lifted her hips and then lowered herself back onto him. Again and again. Her moans already getting louder, starting to turn into cries of pleasure.

He wondered if she had any idea how much it turned him on to see her like that. But, he wanted to see more. At least it was his shirt that she was wearing, so she wouldn’t care if he destroyed it. He reached up, grabbed the shirt in both hands and pulled, ripping the buttons off and exposing Hayley’s beautiful body to his eyes. And to his hands and mouth. He pulled her to him, and kissed a path down her neck, across her collarbone, and down her chest. He took one nipple into his mouth and sucked on it, while one hand played with her other breast. And his other hand skimmed down her stomach. His fingers found her clit and he rubbed against it in time with the movements of her hips against his.

She screamed his name as she came apart for him. Not that he was done with her. He lifted his head, and wrapped his arms around her, then stood up. With one arm wrapped around Hayley, Elijah swept his other hand out and pushed their plates and glasses to the side, before lowering her to the table. Somewhere, there was a part of him capable enough of rational thought to remember how similar this was to their first time together.

The difference was that this wasn’t a goodbye. It was a hello. And a promise. That they had said goodbye to each other for the last time. This time, she was his for good. He thrust himself into her again and again. Reveling in the sound of her moans, the way her hips moved with him.

“Harder. Oh God, Elijah. Don’t stop. Don’t ever stop.”

“Never. This is forever, Hayley. I’m yours. Always and forever.” He was close. So damn close. He reached between them to rub her clit again, needing to bring her to that peak again before he let himself reach it.

He felt her tighten around him, again. And then she was once again screaming his name. A few more hard, deep thrusts later, and he shattered, spilling himself inside her.

He didn’t know how long it was before he found the strength to pull out of her. He didn’t even try to stand up, though. Instead he flopped back into his chair and pulled Hayley onto his lap. “God, I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She giggled. “You know, when your sister asked me to not tell her about it if any part of our reunion took place outside of your bedroom, I thought she was being ridiculous.”

He laughed. “Speaking of our bedroom. Maybe we should take this reunion back to it.”

“We haven’t had dessert, yet.”

“It can wait. I haven’t had my fill of you, yet. It’s a very good thing we’re immortal.”

She laughed and climbed out of his lap, then held out a hand to him. He took her hand and then picked her up and carried her to their bed. They didn’t get any sleep that night. But, neither of them were complaining.


	13. Stall Tactics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hayley and Elijah put off their much-needed talk for one more day. Elijah shows Hayley the cabin he had bought for them and they start making plans to move.

At some point, exhaustion had overtaken them, and they fell asleep. Though, it was the good kind of exhaustion. The bone-melting kind that only comes from a whole lot of damn good sex. They had had a lot of time to make up for, after all. As far as Hayley was concerned, they weren’t done making up for lost time. Though, she knew that at some point today, they were going to have to at least start that very long talk they needed to have.

She still wasn’t looking forward to that, at all. Part of her wanted to just avoid it. Ignore all of their problems and just enjoy each other. Start over, like the past didn’t happen. Well… there were some good things in their past. Obviously it hadn’t all been bad, or they wouldn’t be here, right now. She wouldn’t be naked in Elijah’s bed, her head on his chest, his arms around her, listening to the sound of his heartbeat.

Part of her couldn’t help wondering if it was real. Yesterday felt like a dream. Though, the pleasant soreness between her legs said it definitely wasn’t. She bit back a giggle. The man had been insatiable. And she had loved every second of it. She opened her eyes, then. Watched as her hand traced small circles on his chest. She should let him sleep. She really should. But, what was the fun in that?

She shifted a bit, turned her head and started peppering Elijah’s chest with kisses. She kissed a path up his chest to his neck, then up to his ear. “Elijah? Wake up.”

“No. I’m having a very nice dream.”

She chuckled and nibbled on his earlobe. “And, what are you dreaming about?”

“I’m home, at the compound. Hayley is in my bed, naked. And she’s kissing me.”

“Well, you can either wake up and do more than just dream about Hayley kissing you, or you can stay here and she can go take a shower alone. Now, I know which one I would prefer you do, but it’s entirely up to you.”

His arms tightened around her, then. She squeaked as he pulled her on top of him. A squeak that turned into a moan as she felt how hard he was for her. “And what kind of things would I get to do if I wake up?”

She lifted her head to look at him. “How does joining me in that shower sound?”

His eyes flew open at that. “Can it wait a bit, though?”

“Oh? Do you have something more pressing to do?”

“Yes. This.” And before she had time to react, he rolled them over, kissed her deeply, and pushed himself inside her.

**~The Path To Forever~**

It ended up being quite a while before they finally got out of bed. “You are going to be the death of me, Elijah. You really are.”

“Maybe. But, what a way to go, right?”

Hayley laughed. “Definitely not complaining. But, we should definitely get a shower and put clothes on.”

“Clothes are overrated. I happen to like you naked. I say we just stay here in this bed for the foreseeable future.”

“While that is very tempting. We do have to do things like eat. And maybe actually leave the house at some point.” She looked at Elijah. “Okay, maybe not leave the house. But…” It occurred to her what he had said the night before, calling this _their_ room. “You can help me move my stuff in here, divide up the closet. Get the awkward part of moving in together out of the way.”

He laughed. “Actually… maybe we should hold off on that.”

Hayley’s heart sank. “Oh. Okay. Yeah… Sorry, I—”

Elijah grabbed her arm and turned her to look at him. “Hayley… I’m not changing my mind about what I said. This is your room, now, too. I have no intention of having you ever go back to your old room. I’m just thinking that maybe you should only have to move once. I… I thought that we could move into the cabin I bought us. It has a second bedroom for Hope, unless the two of you would prefer to come back to the compound when she’s in town. But, it would give us some privacy.”

“I’d like that.” She laughed. “Of course, the two of us moving out is what I threatened Freya with to get her to kick Vincent out. But, under the circumstances, I don’t think she would have let him stay, regardless. I mean, she’s the one that basically threatened to sic Klaus on him. Though, I don’t think that was an empty threat.”

Elijah closed his eyes at that. “What are the odds of me getting you girls to drop it and not tell the others about what he said?”

“If it wasn’t for the end result of that, I would agree. But, you admitted that it’s a big part of why you left. And your siblings have a right to know that. They have a right to know why you abandoned them.” That was harsh, she knew that. And her heart clenched at the stricken look on Elijah’s face. “I’m sorry. That was harsh.”

“No. It was completely true. I did abandon them. I abandoned all of you. And you aren’t the only one I owe an explanation and an apology. I’m going to have to talk to all of them, too. I know that.”

“Well, it can wait. Freya is in Mystic Falls. Klaus knows not to try to talk to either of us for a few days. I told him I’d have you call him… eventually.”

He laughed. “Did you actually use the word ‘eventually’? Because you know he’s going to end up teasing me once I call him.”

“I did. This was after I threatened to tell him what I was doing to prepare for you coming home. And I was told that he didn’t need details about my planned sexcapades with his brother.”

“He told me that I should probably eat a couple flight attendants because I was going to need my strength. He’s incorrigible.”

“That’s one word for him, all right. Anyway. I am going to go take a shower. Are you coming with?”

She squealed as Elijah picked her up and carried her into the bathroom. He set her down and turned the water on, adjusting the temperature before stepping in, and pulling her in after him. He pressed her against the wall and kissed her deeply. A kiss that she returned with abandon.

But, just as her hands started moving over his body, he pulled away. “We’re never going to get clean this way, you know.”

“It’s overrated.”

He shook his head. “Come here.” He pulled her away from the wall until she was under the shower spray. Though only for a few seconds.

Before Hayley knew what he was up to, Elijah turned her around. She didn’t have time to question what he was doing, before she felt his hands in her hair. She giggled as she realized what he was doing. “I am perfectly capable of washing my own hair, you know.”

“I know. But, I’m kind of enjoying this. Just hush.”

“Are you going to let me return the favor?”

“Maybe. Turn around.” When she complied, she had to smile at the way his eyes moved over her body

“Like what you see?”

“You know I do. Go ahead and rinse, and then I’ll do your conditioner.”

Hayley smirked and lifted her arms to her head, a trick that she knew would also cause her breasts to lift and jut out. She was rewarded by the sight of Elijah’s adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back. She could only imagine Elijah’s reaction to that. But, if he was going to insist on them actually taking a real shower before doing anything else, Hayley was going to enjoy teasing him.

Eventually, she got all of the shampoo out of her hair, and stepped out of the water. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. Before he could do anything, she turned around. “I believe you said something about conditioner?”

Elijah swallowed so hard that Hayley could actually hear it over the sound of the shower. “Conditioner, right.” A minute later, his hands were in her hair again.

Hayley closed her eyes. But, they flew open when she suddenly felt a washcloth on her shoulder. “What are you doing?” Yes, she pretty much knew what he was doing. But, she just had to ask, anyway.

“What do you think I’m doing? Isn’t the point of a shower to get clean? So, I’m washing you off while your conditioner works. Now hush.”

And then the washcloth was moving over her skin. Across her shoulders, down her back. Over her ass, then down the backs of her legs. She had to hand it to him. He was certainly thorough.

“Turn around.” It was just a whisper in her ear.

Hayley swallowed hard, imagining what was coming. And Elijah didn’t disappoint her. While she kept her eyes closed, she once again felt the washcloth moving over her. Around her neck, across her collarbone. Down her arms. Over her chest, paying particular attention to her breasts. Over her stomach, and her hips. Down one leg, and up the other. And then between them.

She moaned. But then he was gone. Her eyes flew open to find themselves staring into Elijah’s. “You are such a tease.”

“Says the woman who has been making a point of putting her very beautiful breasts on display the entire time we’ve been in here. But, who said I’m done with you?” And with that, he reached around her to grab the shower head, then turned her around again.

Hayley just closed her eyes as Elijah rinsed her hair and her back, then turned her to face him again. The spray of water moved slowly over her chest, then down one leg and up the other. And then stopped when it got between her legs. “Oh God, Elijah. Can you please stop teasing me?”

“And do what, then?”

“I need you.”

“I’m right here.” He was insufferable.

“Not close enough.”

There was a pause, then the spray of water left her, but only for a minute before it was cascading over her head. Elijah turned her sideways and pushed her up against the wall, his body pressed tightly to her. “I’m right here.”

“Still not close enough.”

He kissed her, then pulled away. She opened her eyes to see him holding out a bottle of shampoo. “Fair is fair.”

“Seriously, Elijah? You do know that we’re just going to get all sweaty again, anyway, right?”

“Yes. But, we can at least attempt to make an effort, don’t you think?”

She grinned at him. “You may end up regretting this.” She grabbed the bottle of shampoo out of his hand and squeezed some into her hand. “Go on, then. Get your hair wet and then come here.”

It turned out that Hayley washing Elijah’s hair was a bit more awkward than him washing her hair. She kind of forgot about the height difference. But, she somehow managed. “Go on, rinse it out.”

When he turned to face her so that his back was to the shower head, it was honestly all she could do to keep her eyes north of his waist. But, all getting herself worked up would do would be to frustrate her, since he was apparently determined to put off sex until they had actually had a damn shower. Honestly, what was even the point of sharing a shower if they weren’t going to take advantage of being naked together?

“You can actually skip the conditioner. My hair doesn’t really get that dry.”

“Good. Now turn around.” Hayley grabbed the washcloth and squeezed some body wash onto it, then got to work. As she washed Elijah’s back, she couldn’t help but enjoy the feel of him beneath her hands, and the way his muscles bunched. He was obviously just as affected by this as she was. He was just being a tease. Well, two could play at that game.

She worked her way down his back, over his ass, and down his legs. Once she was done, she stood back up. “Turn around.” She kept her eyes locked on his.

Her eyes never left his as she washed his chest, arms, and stomach. She got a bit of a thrill from seeing the lust in his eyes. Oh, there was no denying that he wanted it as much as she did. Why he was teasing her with it was anyone’s guess. No. Actually, she thought she got it. The anticipation was killing her. She could only imagine how amazing it was going to be when they finally gave in.

It was only as she knelt down to wash his legs that she finally broke eye contact. And then, there was only one body part left to wash. She looked up and caught his eyes as she gripped him, then stroked up and down a few times.

Which is when his composure finally broke. “Hayley. For the love of God.” He reached down and pulled her up. “Enough.” He leaned in for a kiss, but she stepped back.

“We need to get you rinsed off.”

“Rinse. Right. Umm…” He started to step back, but Hayley grabbed his arm and raised an eyebrow at him.

“Where are you going?” She reached around him for the shower head. “Turn around.”

“You are going to be the death of me.”

“What was it you said when you handed me the shampoo bottle? Oh, yeah. Fair is fair. You have been teasing me since we got in here. Now it’s my turn.” She just stood there looking at him, until he turned around.

She was a bit quicker rinsing him than he had been with her. After all, she was definitely ready for this game to be over, too. She was only keeping it up to get back at him.

Once she had his back rinsed off, she turned him around to rinse his front. She once again kept her eyes on his, not really trusting herself to actually watch what she was doing.

The second she hung the shower head back up, Elijah was on her in a flash. Hayley had to giggle when he actually went full-on vamp-speed to grab her, spin her, and push her up against the wall of the shower, before claiming her mouth with his.

Hayley moaned, gladly opening for him. His tongue swept into her mouth to tangle with hers. There was nothing gentle about this kiss. It was all passionate need, demanding a response. And she gladly returned it in kind.

As Elijah’s lips left hers to trail down her neck, he picked her up. She cried out as he pushed himself into her. There wasn’t anything gentle about this, either. His body claimed hers with all the passion that he had previously displayed in his kiss. His thrusts were hard, fast, and deep.

And she wasn’t complaining. As they moved together, their moans, gasps, and cries of pleasure echoed off the bathroom walls. Which somehow just added to the pleasure Hayley was experiencing. It wasn’t long at all before she felt herself barreling towards an Earth-shattering release. Part of her wanted to try to slow it down, savor this. But, they were immortal. They had centuries ahead of them. They could do slow and gentle again another time. Right now, she was very much enjoying quick and dirty.

And then Elijah gave a particularly deep thrust, grinding his pelvic bone against her in just the right spot and she shattered. As she tightened around him, she was rewarded by him crying out her name as he pulsed inside her.

It could have been seconds later, it could have been hours — though it was probably somewhere in between — when Hayley finally caught her breath enough to untangle her legs from around Elijah’s hips and stand on her own two feet, again. “That was…” She honestly had no words for it.

But, Elijah seemed to understand. “Yeah. Me too. Umm… we should probably rinse off again and get out of here.”

Hayley giggled. “I told you that we were just going to get sweaty again.”

“True. But are you complaining?”

“I’d complain about you making me wait, but I concede that the anticipation might have had something to do with how incredible it was.”

Elijah just smirked, then pulled Hayley under the shower spray to rinse off.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Amazingly enough, they actually managed to not only get out of the shower, dried off, and into the bedroom — they even got dressed. Elijah was actually proud of their restraint. Granted, he certainly wouldn’t have minded putting off the getting dressed part. But, as much as they might want to, they couldn’t just spend all of their time in bed. As incredible as the sex was, they still needed to talk.

Though, maybe they could put that off a bit longer. Go out for breakfast. Go look at the cabin. Do some shopping. They needed to decorate the cabin, after all. He hadn’t bothered to buy furniture for it, wanting Hayley to help him choose. After all, it was meant to be as much her home as his.

He was stalling. He knew that. But, he couldn’t help it. Yesterday, he had been the one wanting to talk, and Hayley had been the one wanting to wait and enjoy their reunion first. She had asked him to give them one day. But, now that that one day was over, he found himself wanting to postpone it more. They couldn’t pretend none of it had happened. Logically he knew that. But, dear God, he wanted to just start over.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“I was just mentally planning our day. What do you say we go out for breakfast then look at the cabin and you can start planning how you want to decorate it?”

“I say that you’re stalling. Elijah, I know I asked you for last night to be just about us reconnecting. But, I know that we need to talk.”

“I know. You asked me for last night. Now I’m asking you for today. Just for today, can we be a normal young couple in love, making plans to move in together? We had one night of making up for lost time. Now I’m asking for one day of pretending to be normal.”

He should have realized that this woman knew him far too well, and would see straight through him and realize what the real problem was. “Elijah… I’ve already seen the worst of you. I’ve seen all the things that are the reason that red door in your head exists in the first place. I’ve seen what you’re like with your Humanity turned off. And I’m still here. I still love you. There is nothing you can say to me that is going to make me walk away. You know that, right?”

He lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I know that. At least, up here, I do.” He tapped his temple. “In here, though?” He pressed her hand to his chest, over his heart. “In here, I’m terrified. I am so scared of screwing this up, again. You’ve accepted the monster. And that amazes me.”

She looked down. “Yeah. Especially after what I did…”

He reached out, put a finger beneath her chin, and lifted her head until she was looking in his eyes. “That’s not what I mean. It has nothing to do with you. It just amazes me that anybody could ever see me at my worst and still want anything to do with me. But, that’s not… You may have accepted the monster, but I can’t help wondering if you… If you could ever really love the man. Because, when it comes to you, my worst offenses were all me. And I am having a hard time believing that you can ever truly forgive me. And I know that we need to talk about that. But, please, Hayley. Give me today? For one day can we just pretend that everything I did to hurt you happened to someone else? For one day can we just start over and be normal? We’ll talk when we get home. I promise. Just give me today.”

There were tears in her eyes, but she took hold of his hand and brought it to her lips. She kissed his knuckles, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll give you today. For one day, we’ll pretend that none of that happened. For one day, we’ll be normal. We’ll go out for breakfast. We’ll start planning decorating our first home together that’s truly ours. But, this is the last time we stall, Elijah. I don’t really like it, either, but we do need to talk. We can’t really start over until we start actually healing the past.”

It wasn’t really funny, but he couldn’t help chuckling a bit. “Has Cami’s ghost been haunting you? Or have you pulled a Niklaus and compelled yourself a therapist?”

She laughed. “Do I really sound like a shrink, right now? Cami is probably up there laughing her head off. But, we should probably get going. I’m getting hungry.” He couldn’t help giving her a lecherous look. Which made her slap his arm. “For food, you dork!”

“Food. Right. Well, if you’re really hungry, we should probably start off with a couple blood bags. Crepes may be delicious, but they don’t actually offer us much in the way of nutrition.”

She kissed his cheek. “Good point. I’ll race you to the kitchen.” And then she was gone. Elijah just shook his head and ran after her.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Breakfast was spent talking about everything except the things they needed to talk about, but were putting off. “So, Rebekah wouldn’t let me talk about her and Marcel. She was busy yelling at me about you. What exactly happened with them?”

Hayley shrugged. “He proposed. She turned him down. They broke up. Again. I think she thinks that she doesn’t deserve him. Or maybe that she actually thinks she doesn’t deserve to be happy, at all.”

“Well, that last one makes no sense. I mean, she was the one… When Hope was a baby, and we all finally saw her again… Rebekah had told me that their time together had convinced her that we aren’t really as damaged as we might think. So, why on Earth would she turn Marcel down?”

“I don’t know. I don’t pretend to understand what goes on in that head of hers. She honestly won’t even talk to me or Freya about it. I was actually hoping that with you and Klaus being back, that she might talk to one of you.”

“Where is she, anyway? I mean, not that I want to leave you, any time soon, but…”

“But, your family has to come first. At least sometimes. It’s okay, Elijah. They’re my family, too. And after I put the wolves ahead of you again and again…”

She didn’t say it, but she didn’t need to. She was talking about Jackson. Elijah reached across the table and took her hand. “One of the things we’ll talk about later. Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay. Anyway… Speaking of your sisters and their love lives… Freya actually wants to propose to Keelin. She’s just worried about asking her to choose between Freya and her work. I’m trying to convince her that if she doesn’t put it as an ultimatum and is willing to leave things the way they are if that’s what Keelin wants, then she wouldn’t really be asking her to choose.”

“So, we should have another wedding to go to, soon?”

“I certainly hope so. Those two are so perfect for each other. And so stupidly in love. It… honestly, it sometimes hurt, seeing them together.” She bit her lip. “Sorry. Something else to talk about later.”

“Yeah…” That list was getting ridiculously long. “So… Hope… We should probably call her and tell her that her plan worked.”

“Freya would have told her that.”

“Right. Freya went to Mystic Falls. You gonna tell me what that’s about?”

Hayley took a bite of her crepe and chewed it slowly, obviously stalling. When she finally swallowed it, she looked over at him. “I don’t know what you mean? Why does Freya going to visit Hope have to be about something?”

“Hayley… I’m not stupid. Something is up. I know that I haven’t been around. And if you want to tell me to mind my own business, you can. But, don’t forget that she’s also my niece. No matter what happens between me and you, Hope is still my family. What’s going on?”

Hayley closed her eyes. “Josh thinks she might be planning on triggering her curse intentionally so she can take her ‘rightful place’ as the Crescent pack Alpha. Just something she said to him when he was checking in with her about if it was okay to answer Declan’s questions.”

Elijah froze at that. “She wants to do what?”

“Yeah. I mean, that might not have been what she really meant. Josh could be totally misreading the situation. But, apparently she called herself the Alpha, not just the future Alpha. And there was apparently a lot of talk about letting Declan take his rightful place as the human representative on the Council. And… putting it all together, Josh is worried that Declan isn’t the only one she was talking about taking their rightful place.”

“Shit! Is there anything I can do?”

“Well, since you can’t even be in the same city as her, no. Not really. Freya is going to talk to her, and put Caroline on alert. I’ll talk to her the next time she comes home. I might have Klaus call her, too. No offense, Elijah, but she hardly knows you. I mean… she hardly knows Klaus, either, but…”

“But, he’s her father. It’s okay. I understand.” He drank the last of his coffee. “Anyway… if you’re done eating, we should go look at the cabin. I… if you don’t like it, we can always sell it and buy a different one. I want this to be your home, and to feel like your home. So…”

She gave him a smile that rivaled the sun. “Wherever you are is my home. And you have good taste. I’m sure it will be perfect. Besides, anything I might not like can always be changed. As long as I don’t hate the location, anything else would be fixable.”

He held out his hand to her. “Well, then. Shall we?”

She took his hand with a smile and let him pull her up. Then she kissed him softly. “Let’s go.”

**~The Path To Forever~**

“I know that it’s small. But, it would be just the two of us. I mean, I want Hope to consider it her home, too, but since Hope and I can’t be in the same city, it would always be either just the two of us, or just the two of you.”

He was babbling. Elijah Mikaelson, thousand year old original vampire who had a tendency to literally rip people’s hearts out when he got pissed off was standing there babbling like a nervous teenager. It was officially the cutest thing Hayley had ever seen. She kissed his cheek. “Small is good. We really don’t need much. So, you gonna show me around?”

The first thing she noticed was the wrap-around porch. She was already planning on a porch swing, and a couple rocking chairs. They could sit out there in the evenings, drink a glass of wine, and look at the stars together. Actually, the porch was big enough that they could have a porch swing, a pair of rocking chairs, and a small table for some al fresco dining. Hayley smiled at the thought of recreating their date from all those years ago.

Elijah unlocked the door and led her into what would become their living room. The carpet was pretty horrible. And the walls were a rather boring white. But, nothing a couple cans of paint and a change in flooring wouldn’t fix. It was a good size, and the windows were amazing. It was going to be so pretty when she was done with it.

The kitchen cabinets were stained too dark for her liking, but they could be refinished. The stainless steel appliances were all in like-new condition, and more than decently sized. Not enough room for a table, but the center island would make a good prep area and there was a breakfast nook that would be more than enough for the two of them.

And there was another room off the living room. It was probably meant to be something like a three-season room, but in New Orleans, it never really got all that cold, anyway. She smiled as she looked at it. She had a plan for that room. Not that she was going to share it with Elijah. Though, she would have to talk to someone. She might have to actually turn this into the living room and use the intended living room for her plan. She wasn’t sure how well insulated it was in here. And a piano was a string instrument. Humidity and temperature extremes were both really bad ideas.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

“I’m just planning how to decorate is all.”

“Oh? And the thought of decorating is giving you a look like a cat that just ate a canary?”

She kissed his cheek. “Let me have my fun, Elijah. I might have a surprise for you planned, too.”

“Does that surprise involve christening this house?”

She rolled her eyes. “Like that plan would be a surprise?”

He laughed and took her hand, then led her back into the living room. There was a set of stairs leading up. “The bedrooms are upstairs.”

She nodded and followed him up the stairs. And was pleasantly surprised. Not only were they both a good size, there was no horrible carpeting here. The floors looked like hardwood. If they weren’t real, they did a good enough job of pretending that Hayley wasn’t going to worry about them. A coat of paint on the walls, and they would be good to go. And they each had their own en suite. Useful for when Hope was home. Hayley wouldn’t have to fight with a teenage girl for bathroom time. And, they both had walk-in closets. Actually, the master had two walk-in closets.

“It’s perfect. Some paint, a new floor in the living room, and refinishing the kitchen cabinets, and it will be everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”

“Are you sure? I mean, you’ve been living at the compound this whole time. This… this isn’t too much of a step down for you?”

The poor insecure idiot. Hayley pulled him to her and kissed him. “It’s perfect, Elijah. I really don’t need a lot of space. All it would be would be more that needs to be cleaned. Honestly, I’d be happy living in a one bedroom apartment if it meant being with you. This… this is beautiful.”

He smiled then. “So… what do we do first? Paint samples or furniture shopping?”

“Well, since it’s not like Freya is going to kick us out, maybe we should work on the house itself before we get to the furniture part. We can get some paint samples, look into stains for the kitchen cabinets, and figure out what we’re going to do about that living room floor.”

“Hayley, are you sure it’s okay? I mean, it sounds like it needs a lot of work. We can always look for something that’s more move-in ready…”

She put a finger to his lips. “Shush. It needs some cosmetic work. And needing that work is part of what makes it perfect. I _want_ to paint, and rip up carpets, and refinish cabinets. That is all part of turning a house into a home. I’d honestly hate not being able to do that. So, enough. The house is perfect. What I want to do is just fun stuff to make it _ours._ Okay?”

“All right. Fair enough. So, let’s go get some paint samples and wood stains and… hardwood floors? Since you seem happy with the bedrooms, I’m guessing you don’t want to put a different carpet in the living room.”

“You’re learning. But, actually, speaking of that floor…” She tried to shift her hands into claws, then bit back a scream of frustration at the realization that that was no longer possible. She looked over at Elijah. "I don't suppose you have a pocket knife on you? I want to see what's under here, and..."

He shook his head. "No pocket knife, but if we start in a corner, we should be able to just pull part of it up, I would think? We do have vampire strength going for us, after all."

Hayley nodded, holding back tears, then went to the corner and tugged on the carpet. And sighed at the subfloor. “After the bedrooms, I had kind of had hopes." She shrugged. "That’s okay, though. It might actually be easier to put in a new floor than refinish an existing one.” She stood up. “Okay, now we know what we’re working with. Let’s go window shopping.” She was avoiding yet another painful subject, and Elijah had to know that.

But, he was a good boyfriend and ignored it. “Window shopping? Why just window shopping?”

“Because we need to pick things out. That means getting samples and going over them. We aren’t going to be able to just walk into a hardware store and buy paint. We need to decide what colors we want. There’s a process, Elijah.”

“I see. Okay then. Lead the way.”

Hayley took one last sweep around the house, taking pictures on her phone. Then she took Elijah’s hand and led him out to the car.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Elijah couldn’t stop smiling. Hayley had spent the entire afternoon dragging him from store to store. She had taken more pictures of furniture than he knew what to do with. And grabbed literally every paint and stain sample the hardware store had. She had also looked at hardware. Mainly drawer pulls, but also doorknobs? “Okay, what are you looking at, now?”

Hayley shrugged. “I don’t know if I’m going to mess with this stuff. But, if we’re redecorating, we should at least consider replacing the doorknobs and faucets and stuff. I’m having fun, leave me alone.”

“Right. Who am I to try to get in the way of your fun?”

Eventually, she decided that they had enough samples, and she had taken enough pictures. “All right, let’s head back to the compound. We can start going over all this stuff, make some plans.”

She seemed to have forgotten that they were supposed to be talking. Not that Elijah was complaining about that. If she wanted to postpone that talk for one more day, he was certainly not going to push the matter. He had no problem stalling.

Until they arrived home and saw a package sitting on the porch. As soon as Elijah saw who it was from, he knew what it was. And postponing their talk stopped being an option. Because that box was a reminder of just why they really did need to talk.

Marcel had sent Elijah Hayley’s engagement ring.

  
  



	14. Painful Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elijah and Hayley start on that long talk they need, which opens some wounds. Elijah goes to Josh for advice, then gets some much-needed tough love from Klaus.

Hayley frowned as Elijah picked up the package, walked into the house and set it on the dining room table. “Aren’t you going to open it?”

“I already know what it is. And, no. I’m not going to open it right now.”

“You gonna tell me what it is?”

“Nope. You’ll… hopefully you’ll find out, eventually. But, not right now.”

Well, that was cryptic and almost kind of ominous. What in the world? “Fine.” She took his hand and started to tug him towards the door. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.”

Elijah just smiled and shook his head, then pulled Hayley back. “We’ve put it off long enough. It’s time we at least started that conversation we both know we need to have.”

“We can have that conversation in our room, Elijah.”

“No, we really can’t. I don’t trust myself. So, since you arranged for us to have the house to ourselves for a while, we are going to be adults and sit here and talk.”

Hayley sighed. She knew him well enough to know that there was no deterring him when he was like this. “Fine.” She sat down in one of the chairs at the edge of the table. “Let’s talk.”

Elijah took the chair on the end so that they were basically perpendicular to each other, and took her hand into his. “I guess I should start with the big one.” He ran his thumb over her Daylight Ring. “The one that led to this.”

Part of her wanted to pull her hand away, to hide that offensive ring that was causing Elijah so much pain. But, she was afraid that if she did that, he would think that she was pulling away from him. And the last thing she wanted right now was for him to feel rejected. So, she stayed where she was. Let him continue rubbing his thumb over her ring while he started talking.

“You saw my conversation with Vincent. And we talked about how that made me feel. What that did to me. I admitted that a big part of having my memories erased was so that Elijah Mikaelson could die.”

“Yes. And Elijah—”

He cut her off. “I know. But, it wasn’t just that. It was…” He looked down, refusing to meet her eyes.

Hayley reached over with her other hand and lifted his chin. “Hey. Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

“It was also you. I couldn’t… I’d say that I couldn’t live with how I had hurt you, but… it isn’t even that. I… Hayley, I….”

And she knew then. Knew what he was about to say. Tears stung her eyes as she finally realized just how much she had hurt him. “Don’t touch me”, she whispered. “Oh shit. Elijah, I… I am so, so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I got scared. And I just didn’t have time to process. I am so sorry.” She picked his hand up and kissed his knuckles. “I am so sorry.”

“Hey. Don’t. We’re here, now. And it’s going to be okay. I know I hurt you, too.”

“I thought… when I found out what you had done, I thought that… that my love wasn’t enough. I went out there to talk to you. And the first thing you said was that you knew it was over. And I… I didn’t want that. I wanted to do what we’re doing now. Find a way to make this work, even with you having to stay away from Hope. And when you said that you knew it was over, I thought that you didn’t want that. That you didn’t want me. That you couldn’t forgive me for the way I had acted after the pendant. And I didn’t really blame you. I was such a bitch to you, Elijah.”

“Hayley, no!”

“Let me finish. Please?” At his nod, she went on. “But, even though I thought that you didn’t want me, anymore, I had to try. So, I told you that I love you. Hoping it would be enough. That knowing that I love you would make you stay. And you told me that you love me, too. And you kissed me. And… we didn’t talk about it, but… I thought we were okay. That once it was done, you would call me, and we would figure something out. But, you didn’t. And then… Vincent told me that you were gone. That you had had him and Marcel erase your memories. And… all I could think about was how you didn’t even say goodbye. And then I realized that that kiss _was_ you saying goodbye. And, a part of me wondered if maybe you had lied. That the reason… the reason you just left like that was because you didn’t still love me. That you just said that. That that kiss didn’t mean anything.”

She stopped trying to control her tears. “I thought you hated me. That you didn’t love me, anymore, and you hated me. That you did what you did so that… so that I couldn’t hurt you, anymore. And I… I couldn’t even apologize. Because you didn’t know me, anymore. And, I… It just hurt. It hurt so much. And it was months before I could look Freya in the eye. Because her brother was gone. And it was all my fault. Because I was such a bitch. I broke his heart into so many pieces, that… the only way for him to put the pieces back together again was to forget me. And the only way to forget me, was to forget them, too. I thought it was my fault. That it was all my fault. And I just wanted you back. I wanted another chance. And… you were gone. You were completely gone. Not just from my life, but… like you keep saying, Elijah Mikaelson was dead. And it was all my fault. Because I had been such a bitch. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

And then his arms were around her. “Hey… Don’t. Hayley, don’t. That’s not it. That’s not it at all. I wasn’t mad at you. I was never mad at you. I certainly never hated you. I… I loved you, so much. It wasn’t just you. It was everything. It was Niklaus pointing out that I couldn’t swoop in and clean up his messes, anymore. It was Vincent telling me that the world would be better off without me in it. It was my own damn codependency not knowing how to live without any of you. And, yes. It was knowing that I had lost you. It was not being able to face a life without my siblings, without you. And… I think I felt the same way you did. That you telling me that you love me, and that kiss was just… you saying goodbye. That you didn’t really mean it, anymore. Hayley, you have to believe me that had I known how much my leaving would hurt you, I never would have done it. I did it because… because I didn’t think you’d actually care. I thought you would actually be relieved to have me completely out of your life.”

She shook her head. “Elijah, no. Never. I know that I said things… things I wish I could take back. But, I never… I never wanted you out of my life. I just needed time to process. And I was never given that time.”

“Rebekah said something. I don’t know how much sense it actually makes, but I want to put it out there, if that’s okay?”

“Of course. I’m kind of curious, now, anyway.”

“We were talking about how after everything we had been through, all the times that mine and my family’s enemies went after you and Hope… All the times you stood by me while my past kept trying to destroy you… How it was The Hollow that finally tore us apart. And she came up with an interesting theory. She said that she thinks it was easier for you to be a united front with us against our mother, and Aunt Dahlia, and Lucian and the Strix than against the Hollow because you didn’t know how to deal with the idea that Hope was in danger, not because of who her father is, but because of who her mother is. For once, it was a Labonair enemy coming after us, not a Mikaelson one. And, you felt responsible, so you were lashing out, looking for someone to blame.”

“Because the alternative was to accept the blame, myself. And I wasn’t ready to do that. It makes sense. It was my fault. There was this all-powerful witch out there who wanted my baby girl. And it was all my fault. And nobody knew how to stop her.”

“That’s Rebekah’s theory, at least. I’m not saying you did anything wrong. You didn’t. If lashing out at me kept you from hating yourself, then I’m glad you did it. Because that wasn’t your fault. Lucian, the Strix, Marcel when he was against us… those were mine and my family’s fault. There is no denying that. But, Inadu wasn’t your fault, Hayley. You didn’t ask to be descended from her any more than my family asked for our parents. So, if being mad at me for what happened in Freya’s pendant and lashing out at me for that and everything else I did kept you sane, and kept you from blaming yourself, then… That is what you needed to do.”

“I still… I shouldn’t have… I wasn’t fair to you, Elijah. I just…” She closed her eyes, trying to think of a way to explain this. “I told Klaus that I thought that I would find you in a good place. I went through some of the other doors. Saw some of your happier memories. Memories of me. And I guess I thought that that was where I would find you. And when it wasn’t, when you were _there,_ I… I panicked. I thought that that was who you really were. And it scared me. I understand, now. I get it. You… the red door is where you put the things you don’t want to remember. And after what Vincent said to you… you didn’t want to remember anything.”

“I think that may be a simplification. I… I think we’ve talked about this a bit, but no reason not to go ahead and say it again. If it helps you, I’m more than willing to rehash things we’ve already said. I was hiding from myself, in a way. You’re the one who theorized that I had turned my Humanity off. And, I think you may be right. And so… that was where I had retreated to. Because in there, I didn’t have to be me. I could hide behind the monster and not have to think. Not have to wonder if what Vincent had said was true. Not have to wonder if I was being unfair to you, and to Hope, by being in your lives. Not have to wonder if you were better off without me. But, that wasn’t me, Hayley. That wasn’t me. I know that I’ve hurt you. That that wasn’t the first time, and it wasn’t the last time. And I don’t know that I can even promise that me having my memories wiped and running away from you and my family will be the last time. All I can promise is that I will try. I will try to be the man you deserve. And I just pray that it’s enough. And, I feel selfish for that. For wanting you in my life, in my arms… in my bed. For wanting that even though I know that it’s possible that I’m just going to end up hurting you, again. I just… I don’t know… I just hope that this time we can make it work. I promise to try my hardest.”

“I’m not innocent, either. We came so close to my last words spoken to you being ‘don’t touch me’. I lashed out at you because I was scared. And, I think Rebekah is right. I lashed out because I needed to blame somebody, other than myself. And… somehow that ended up being you. And I lashed out because I… I think I felt like I could never really be enough for you.”

He frowned at that. “I don’t understand what you mean by that.”

“I’m not sure I do, either. I just… I don’t know. I’m such a mess, right now. I was even more of a mess then.”

Elijah picked up Hayley’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “I am getting the feeling that if we keep trying to talk about this, we are just going to end up talking in circles.”

“Yeah. Especially since I seem to have lost the ability to be coherent. Table the rest of this for later?”

“Yeah… I know we still have a lot to talk about, but… maybe it should wait. We’ve both given each other and ourselves a lot to think about.”

“We certainly have. So… what’s in the package?”

He laughed. “I’ll tell you, later. And don’t go snooping.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. Yes, she was acting like a five-year-old. No, she didn’t care. “You are so mean! The suspense is killing me!”

“And, what makes you think that it’s even any of your business, huh?”

“Simple. If it wasn’t any of my business, you would actually be less evasive.”

He just shook his head. “Hey! We should have that dessert you mentioned last night!”

Hayley rolled her eyes, but she stood up and went into the kitchen to get their dessert. Even though the curiosity about what Marcel could have possibly sent to Elijah was killing her.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Elijah watched Hayley walk away with a smile. He loved watching that woman walk. It was a silly thing to love so much, but… She certainly knew it, too. There was an extra swing to her hips, like she knew damn well that his eyes were rather firmly glued to that very shapely butt of hers.

He shook his head and turned his attention to the package from Marcel. He should put that up, somewhere, until he was ready for it. But, then he shook his head. No. There were actually people he needed to talk to. And it might be easier if he could show them the ring. He wasn’t looking forward to that, really. He was pretty sure that Josh was going to rip him a new one. Not that he blamed the boy.

But, then Hayley was coming back with two of the biggest chocolate covered strawberries Elijah had ever seen. “Okay, in hindsight, having more fruit for dessert when our dinner was fruit was probably a stupid plan, anyway. So, maybe it’s just as well that we got… distracted.” She blushed. “This is stupid. I was trying so hard, yesterday. And while you deserved every bit of that, right now I feel stupid, anyway.”

Elijah just shook his head. “It wasn’t stupid. It was sweet. I loved everything you did yesterday to try to make things special for us. Which… ‘try’ isn’t the right word. Because you very much succeeded. Last night was beautiful and romantic and so incredibly sweet. I don’t deserve you.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” She sat down and picked up one of the strawberries. Elijah half expected her to feed it to him, but she didn’t. Instead, she bit into it, herself. She closed her eyes. “Mmm… okay, fruit for dessert when we had fruit for dinner might have been a stupid idea, but this really is so good.”

And Elijah was enjoying watching Hayley far too much to bother with his own strawberry. Which is why it was still sitting on the plate when Hayley finished hers and opened her eyes. “You… you don’t want yours? I… I can get you something else if…”

He just shook his head. “Stop being so insecure. I was just enjoying watching you, that’s all. It was a very… entertaining sight.”

Hayley blushed at that. “Oh. Well, are you going to eat yours?”

Elijah nodded and then picked up his strawberry. He doubted that he was as entertaining to watch as Hayley was. Especially since, as good as the food was, all he really wanted was to go to bed.

So, he made short work of his dessert, and then stood up. “We should probably get these dishes washed.” They really should. They were getting very bad about leaving dishes on the table — or the floor — to be dealt with later.

But, Hayley didn’t want that any more than Elijah actually did. “They can wait. Take me to bed, Elijah.”

“As you wish.” And then he picked her up and carried her to their bedroom. And neither of them thought about much of anything for the rest of the night.

**~The Path To Forever~**

Elijah walked into Rousseau’s and smiled when he saw Josh Rosza behind the bar. “Joshua! Just the person I was looking for!”

“You know, every time somebody says that to me, I end up really wishing they hadn’t found me. What can I do for you, Elijah?”

Elijah reached into his pocket and pulled the jewelry box containing Hayley’s engagement ring out and opened it. “You can tell me if I have any right to try to give this to Hayley.”

Josh whistled. “That ring is gorgeous, man. Hayley is going to love it. I don’t quite understand why you’re in here talking to me about it, though.”

“Because you were here, and you aren’t related to me. I can trust you to give me an honest answer and not try to sugarcoat things for me.”

Josh sighed. “All right. Have a seat, let’s talk.” Elijah sat at the bar, and Josh poured him a glass of whiskey. “Yeah. It hurt her a lot when you left. Maybe more than she was willing to show anyone. And yeah, the rest of us all spent a large amount of time trying to put the pieces back together. And, to be honest, I don’t know if we ever really succeeded. But, that is exactly why you definitely should give her that ring. Because the only one that can put the pieces of Hayley’s broken heart back together is you.”

“I don’t deserve her. You of all people probably know that.”

“That’s not up to you, Elijah. It’s up to her. But, if you want my opinion? Which obviously you do, or you wouldn’t be in here. Yes. Actually, you do deserve her. Elijah, you have both been through Hell. And some of that Hell was your own making, and some of it, you have put each other through. And that is hard to hear, I know. But, as much as you think you hurt her, don’t stand here and try to tell me that she never hurt you, too. I was at her wedding, Elijah. For just the most obvious example. Yeah. You guys have hurt each other. But, through it all, you never stopped loving each other. To the point that you had to erase your memories to be able to live without her.”

Elijah gave a short laugh. “Erased my memories, and even then, I couldn’t really move on. I met someone, fell in love, got engaged. But… the second I remembered Hayley, that was it. She’s it for me.”

“Hence that ring. ‘Forever’ means something quite a bit different to us than it does to the mortals around us. It isn’t ‘until death do us part’. It is _literally_ forever. And, here you are.”

“I just don’t know if I have the right to ask her for that. After everything I did to her… How can I ask her… I…”

“Okay. Here we go. Yes, you leaving the way you did hurt her, Elijah. There are definitely things you are going to have to talk to her about with that. And probably a bunch of other things, too. The two of you have had a very rocky road. But, neither of you ever stopped loving the other one. You can get through everything else, Elijah. But, she loves you. After everything, she still loves you. With all of her heart. And you do deserve her. Declan actually asked me if you deserve her when he talked to me about the family history Hope told him and her wanting him to help with her plan to get you and Hayley back together. And, I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him. My opinion is that, yes. You do deserve her. The two of you have been through Hell. Your whole family has. But, the way you look at her… It’s like a blind man seeing the sun for the first time. Every time. You two… it was written in the stars. It was always going to be the two of you in the end.”

“I’m not sure that really answers my question.”

“Yes. It does. Honestly, the fact that you’re here asking me that question is your answer. Yes, you’ve hurt her. Yes, you have a lot to work out. But, yes. You deserve her, Elijah. A man that didn’t wouldn’t care if he did.”

“That’s an awfully low bar, Josh.”

“No. It really isn’t. You know who never questioned whether or not he deserved her? Jackson. He was a good guy in most respects. But, when it came to Hayley, he felt entitled to her. You have your faults, Elijah. I am the last person to try to tell you differently. But, when it comes to Hayley? You were destined for each other. You have always put her first. You watched her marry another man, because you thought that was what was best for her. Everything you have done from the moment she walked into your life was for her. You were willing to walk away from Klaus for her. And, after all of that? You are here. Asking me if I think that you deserve her. Basically asking me for permission to propose to her. Because even now, after everything, the one thing you never want to do is hurt her. You’re a good man, Elijah. And yeah, you leaving hurt her. Yeah, she was still having trouble saying your name right up until you came back. But, man! You should have seen her getting ready for you to come home! I have never seen her so happy. She was glowing. Because you were back. Because the love of her life was back, and he still wanted her, still loved her. Yes, Elijah. Yes, you deserve her. More than that. You owe her. If you don’t want to be with her, anymore, that’s one thing. But don’t punish her because you’re mad at yourself. You did that once. Which is why we’re even having this conversation. Don’t do it, again. You want to spend forever with her? _Tell_ her that. She deserves to hear it. She deserves to know that this is real, and you aren’t going anywhere.”

Elijah clapped Josh on the shoulder. “Thank you. And I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah. See you around. I better be invited to the wedding!”

“Of course you will be. But, we have a while before we get to that point. I still need to propose. We have to plan. We… There’s a lot to be done.” He stood up, threw a $50 bill on the bar, and left.

Next up, call his siblings. He wasn’t looking forward to this.

**~The Path To forever~**

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t our prodigal brother, finally returning!”

“Shut it, Kol. Obviously Elijah needs to talk to us about something. Where are you, anyway?”

“I’m sitting on the porch of mine and Hayley’s cabin. Which, sorry, Freya. I know that Hayley had threatened you with us moving out, so it hardly seems fair that we’re moving, anyway, but…”

“But, there’s moving and then there’s moving. I understand. You two want a place of your own. It makes sense. I’ve seen that deed, too, Elijah. I knew this was coming. Anyway, where is your girlfriend, anyway?”

“She’s at the compound. I didn’t want her around for this conversation. Because I need to talk to you guys about something.” He took a deep breath. “I know that I still owe you all an explanation. And an apology. And, a whole lot of time letting you yell at me. But, I wanted to talk to you about something else, first.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out Hayley’s ring. “I bought this for Hayley shortly after we woke up. About the same time I bought the cabin. I… I’ll spare you the details of how I planned to propose and why that didn’t happen.”

Rebekah snorted. “Well, knowing you two, it didn’t happen because you ended up having sex, instead. Not that I blame you.”

“Enough! Can we not discuss Elijah’s sex life? I really don’t want to know.”

“Really, Niklaus? Because I seem to recall you telling me that you imagine that I’m going to be ‘quite busy’ making it up to Hayley for abandoning her. And that you hope that I’m ‘up for the task.’” Rebekah made a choking sound at that, but Elijah kept going. “Oh yes, and let’s not forget your suggestion that I eat a few flight attendants on the way because I was going to need my strength.”

Kol chortled. “Damn, Nik!”

“Can we please get back to the discussion at hand? Namely that Elijah has an engagement ring for Hayley, and is currently not with her, and is instead on facetime with us. So, why are you talking to us about this? Shouldn’t you be on one knee in front of Hayley, right now?”

“Honestly? I’m trying to figure out how this is going to work. I don’t… I don’t want to get married without you all here. And I can hardly ask Hayley to get married without her daughter here. And this is just a huge mess. Plus… even without that mess… I don’t know. I guess I just wanted all of you to know.”

“Well, like I said before, there’s always astral projection. Hope is quite good at it. Davina can project Kol. And I’m sure that if somebody asked Caroline nicely, she’d help with me and Rebekah. After all, she does have a whole school full of vampires, werewolves, and witches. If anybody would know somebody that can help us, it’s her.”

Elijah bit his lip. “Kol… _would_ Davina help with this?”

“We’re going to have to talk, Elijah. All three of us. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. She kind of hates you, and she has every reason to. But, you’re my brother. And despite everything, I still love you. So, yes. She’d do it. For me and for Hayley, if not for you.”

Niklaus clapped his hands. “There! Now that that’s settled, I suggest you get to it. Call us all after she’s said yes.”

A round of “I love you”s and several promises from Elijah that he would explain himself and let them yell at him once things were settled with Hayley later, and Elijah’s phone went dead as the last of his siblings exited the video chat.

He still had another phone call to make before he could talk to Hayley. Josh’s comment on how it seemed like Elijah was asking him for permission to propose made him realize that there was somebody whose permission he really did have to ask for. It was about as far from tradition as it got. But, it needed to be done.

But first… he called Niklaus back. “Everyone is acting like… like the past seven years didn’t happen. And not just that. Like none of the bad stuff happened.”

“Oh. We all have every intention of yelling at you. Probably for a very long time. We just all agreed that Hayley should get the first shot at you.”

“I’m not even talking about that. I’m actually talking about Hayley.”

“Oh. Elijah… I wasn’t around, either. So, I don’t really know what might have been going on in that head of hers. But, from the way she was talking when I talked to her, she seemed very excited to be seeing you, again. She seemed… happy. She obviously loves you, very much. I don’t think you have anything to worry about. She’s not going to say no.”

“But, maybe she should. What if I hurt her, again, Niklaus? That seems to be all I’m good at. I’ve hurt her again and again. And I don’t know… I don’t know if I trust myself. I love her. So much. And I’m terrified.”

Niklaus sighed. “Look. I am probably the worst person to give relationship advice. Honestly, your best bet among our siblings would probably actually be Kol. You know, considering he did the whole marriage thing, and it seems to be working out for him. He’s the only one of us to have ever actually managed a truly stable relationship.”

“Right. But, still loving me because I’m his brother, and being willing to listen to me whine about my relationship problems are two very different things. And, before you say it, yes. I am aware that Freya is the one that was here, and is Hayley’s best friend. But… I don’t really know how to talk to Freya about this, either. I did talk to Josh, though.”

“Oh? And what did he have to say?”

“He told me… he told me that Hayley and I are written in the stars.” He chuckled. “But, also that my leaving hurt her, and that even right before I came back she was still having trouble saying my name. But, also that she was so excited and happy while getting ready for me to come home. And… he says that I owe it to her to propose. That she deserves to hear me saying that I want forever, that this is real and I’m not going anywhere.”

“Then why are you on the phone with me?” His brother didn’t wait for an answer, though. “You know what I think? I think that you aren’t actually afraid of screwing up, again. I think you’re afraid that this time you’ll make it work. Not saying that you’re afraid of commitment. Rebekah may be the hopeless romantic in the family, but she has always been more in love with the idea of love than any particular person — except maybe Marcellus. But, when it comes to actually having meaningful relationships and wanting that commitment… that was you, Elijah. But, you’re afraid of making it work. Because you’re a martyr. You have always been a martyr. You have spent a thousand years punishing yourself. Punishing yourself for Tatia, even though you didn’t realize you were or even that you should. Punishing yourself for helping our parents bind me. Blaming and punishing yourself for every atrocity I have committed ever since. Because you feel responsible for me — both as my older brother, and because you think I wouldn’t have turned out the way I did if you had somehow been a better brother.”

“Niklaus…”

“I’m not finished, Elijah. You called to get my opinion, now you’re going to get it. You have never felt like you actually deserved to be happy. Oh, you would sometimes take what happiness you could find. But, you were always waiting. Waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under you. Because you never felt like you truly deserved it. And, sometimes, you did a pretty good job of sabotaging your own happiness. Especially with Hayley. You told her to marry Jackson. Fully intended to put your own happiness on hold for decades, just to give her a way to unite and protect her people, and give us an army to protect Hope. Just for the most obvious example of how you keep sabotaging your own happiness. But, what you fail to take into consideration is that it was never just your own happiness you were sabotaging. You’re a martyr, Elijah. But, you keep pulling her down with you. Your belief that you don’t deserve to be happy has kept _her_ from being happy, too. Josh is right. If you love her, and want to be with her forever — you need to tell her that. She deserves to hear it. Because this isn’t just about you and your happiness. It’s about her, too. Tell her how you feel, Elijah. How you really feel. If she’s not ready to think of forever yet, that’s her choice. But, she deserves to be given the choice. She deserves for you to stop making decisions for her. You wrecked her when you left, Elijah. Not just because you left, but because in the process you basically told her that she didn’t really mean anything to you. I’m sure that whole fiasco is on the top of your list of things you need to talk to her about, so I’m going to leave her to that. But, it’s time for you to stop punishing yourself. And stop punishing her. Because whether you intend to or not, you _are_ punishing her, too. So, propose, Elijah. Tell her that you’re in this. That you aren’t going to run away again. And then… figure your shit out.”

“Are you taking Camille’s place as the Mikaelson family therapist?”

“Somebody needs to. And, when it comes to you, I guess that somebody is me. But, seriously. Talk to her. Tell her how you feel. All of it. Not just how much you love her, but about how scared you are, and why. I fully believe that the two of you will get through this, together. But, the only way that’s going to happen is if you let her in. All the way in. Now, I’m going to hang up. You are not going to call me back. You are going to go home to your girlfriend. And you are going to tell her everything. And you are going to propose. And I will talk to you after you’re finished celebrating.”

And then the phone went dead, again. Elijah just stared at it for a minute. And then, with shaking hands, he scrolled through the contacts Hayley had programmed in for him until he found Hope’s name. He swallowed hard, before he hit send.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Hope. This is Elijah.”

“Uncle Elijah? What’s going on? Is mom okay?”

“She’s fine. I just wanted to ask you something, before I… umm…” This would have been easier if he had facetimed her. He could just show her the ring. But, he had done this this way, so now there was nothing for it, but for him to actually talk to her. “Okay, so before… when me and Aunt Rebekah, Aunt Freya, and Uncle Kol first woke up I… I bought your mother a ring.”

“You were going to propose? Oh my God! And then The Hollow happened and… and everything just got blown all to Hell.”

“Pretty much. Yeah. Anyway… when I arranged to have my memories wiped, I gave that ring to Marcel to hold onto for me. He’s sent it back.”

“And now you’re getting ready to make up for lost time and pick up where you left off?”

“Basically. But, I’m a thousand years old. So, I’m a bit of a traditionalist. So, since your grandparents are dead, that makes you her closest relative.”

There was silence. And then laughter. “You are not seriously sitting there asking me for… for my mother’s hand in marriage, are you?”

“Umm… yes?”

“Uncle Elijah, you are an idiot. You don’t need my permission. But, you certainly have it. I mean, I went to a lot of trouble to get you two to talk things out and fix this. I’m hardly going to tell you no, now that that’s actually worked.”

“Thank you. I just… I think that part of my problems is feeling like it’s not fair for me to be thinking of planning a wedding when…”

“When your family can’t actually be there? I’m a witch, Uncle Elijah. I’ll astral project in. Aunt Davina can project Uncle Kol. And once you have a date set, I’ll talk to Miss Forbes. We’ll figure out a way to have Dad and Aunt Rebekah there. Have mom call me, later? Actually, you two should do a video call, later. I’m going to want to see that ring.” There was a pause. “Oh. Yuck. I mean… I guess I’ll talk to you guys like tomorrow, or something.”

Elijah laughed. Okay, it was a bit weird having his fifteen year old niece’s mind go straight into the gutter like that. But, he couldn’t help laughing at her reaction to it, anyway. If it was one of his siblings he was talking to, he would have said something about making sure they were both dressed before calling. But… “We’ll call you. Probably tomorrow. And Hope? Thank you. For everything. Though… I think your mother is going to want to have a bit of a talk with you about that stunt you pulled. She might have said the word ‘grounded’ a few times in there.”

“Yeah… I’m kind of expecting that. Was hoping that having you back would calm her down, but… I’m sure she’s going to have some things to say. But, I’m actually on my way to class. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

And then she was gone. Elijah just shook his head and put his phone back in his pocket. He stood up. It was time to find out if Hayley really had forgiven him enough to trust him. And he had never been so nervous in his life.

  
  



	15. This Time It's Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two words: marriage proposal

There was just one problem. And it was a pretty big problem. There was no furniture in the cabin. And the whole reason for that was that he wanted Hayley to be involved in decorating. Which meant that he couldn’t just go out and buy a bunch of furniture. So, where was he supposed to do this? Hayley deserved something special. She deserved his original plan eight years ago. And he had no way to recreate that.

He pulled his phone back out and called Josh. “I need you to do me a huge favor and get my girlfriend out of the house for a few hours.”

“Uh… What?”

“I’m trying to do something special for her. I would do this at the cabin, but there’s no furniture.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Honestly, what I should do is wait a bit, but… both you and Niklaus have told me that she deserves to know I’m in this for forever. And Hope is expecting a video call tomorrow so Hayley can show off her ring. And I _want_ to propose now. We’ve lost so much time, and we may be immortal, but still… I’m through waiting. But, I have no idea how to make this special, and I am losing my mind.”

Josh laughed. “Serious question, here. How much furniture do you actually need? She’d probably be happy with a blow-up mattress in the living room.”

“Joshua…”

“I know. You want it to be special. All right. I’ll get her out of the house so you can set up the compound for whatever you have planned. Even if you are being ridiculous.”

“I fully intend for this to be the last time either of us gets to do this. It’s bad enough that we can’t actually have our family at the wedding except you, Freya, and Marcel. I at least want the proposal to be the fairy tale she deserves.”

“You are such a sap. I never would have guessed that. Go do your shopping. I promise that by the time you get home, Hayley will be elsewhere.”

“Thank you. If Freya wasn’t in Mystic Falls, I would have had her drag Hayley off to window shop for furniture, or something. But…”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I can pretend I’m redecorating my apartment and have Hayley help me look at stuff. I’ll figure something.”

Elijah thanked Josh again and ended the call. Then he headed back to the city proper to start his shopping. He was determined to make this perfect.

**~The Path To Forever~**

“Hey! I need a favor.”

Hayley laughed. “What kind of favor?”

“I’m thinking of redecorating my apartment. And since I know that you and Elijah are decorating that cabin he bought, I thought that you and I could go furniture shopping together? I can look at stuff for my place, and you can work on putting together a short list to show Elijah.”

“Can this possibly wait, Josh? Elijah has only been home for like two days.” Speaking of which, where the heck _was_ Elijah, anyway? He had left right after breakfast, talking about errands to run, and she hadn’t heard from him, since.

“I know. I have the worst timing. I promise to have you home in time for dinner. And, Elijah stopped by here to say hi. I got the impression that he plans on being out most of the day. So, you might as well hang out with me for a while. What do you say?”

Hayley narrowed her eyes at her phone, even though Josh couldn’t see her. He was up to something. Which probably meant that Elijah was up to something. But, it was that last thought that made her decide to play along. “All right. Fine. I’ll go hang out with you and do some shopping for furniture that neither of us are actually going to buy today. Why not?” And then she laughed. “Okay. That probably sounded harsh. I promise that under any other circumstances I’d love to go shopping with you. I’m only doing this under protest because right now I just want to spend time with Elijah.”

“I get it. I do. But, seriously. He’s not there, anyway. So, I figured it would help you, too. Get you out of the house and give you something to do while Elijah is off running his errands.”

“I appreciate that. All right, let me get dressed and I’ll meet you at Rousseau’s.”

**~The Path To forever~**

Several hours later, Hayley finally made it back home. Neither she or Josh had bought anything. Though they had both taken pictures of various items, and actually had a lot of fun. Though, Hayley definitely had her suspicions about the whole outing. It had become obvious that this was more about getting her out of the house than anything else. The question was why.

A question that was answered the minute she stepped into the courtyard of the compound. There were lights everywhere. Strands of the dangling kind meant to mimic icicles hanging from the balconies, a strand wrapped around the fountain. Elijah had pulled a small table and two chairs out next to the fountain, and set up a canopy over it. With more strands of lights spiraling up the support posts and radiating out from the center like the spokes on a wheel. It was like walking into Wonderland.

He was standing next to the table, that was already set for a romantic dinner for two. No candles, but the Christmas lights already served that purpose, anyway. It all looked kind of familiar, actually. Not the specifics, but… She smiled. “Expecting company?”

“Yes. She should be here any minute. I think you’ll like her.” Elijah walked over and kissed her. “You made my first night back so special. I wanted to do something for you, too.”

“So, is this what my day spent furniture shopping with Josh was about? You actually enlisted him to help give you time to set this up?”

“Pretty much, yes. Do you like it?” He looked so nervous. It was absolutely adorable.

“I love it. Even if you are a dork and I didn’t need all of this.”

“I seem to recall saying something similar to you about everything you did to welcome me home. So, hush.”

“Fine. So, what’s the plan for tonight? I’m sure you have one. Your plans couldn’t have revolved entirely around setting up some kind of fairy land out here.”

“Well, the first part of my plan involves us having a nice, romantic dinner.” He pulled one of the chairs at the table out and waved his hand at it.

Hayley giggled and sat down, letting Elijah push her chair in. “You are such a dork, sometimes. You know that?”

“I think you’ve told me that a time or two. I’m taking it as a term of endearment.”

“Well, it is. What’s the rest of the plan?”

“Hush, and let me do this my way, okay?” He didn’t wait for an answer, just turned to another table that Hayley somehow hadn’t even noticed. He picked up two plates with those silver dome things over them and set them on top of the plates that had already been set out. It was kind of weird, but Hayley had watched enough old movies to know that that was kind of the point. The bottom plate was meant more as almost a tray to set the actual plate on. Why was anybody’s guess, but she wasn’t going to argue, right now. Not when Elijah was trying so hard to make this special for her. He turned away, again. This time when he turned back to her, he was holding two wineglasses with what at first glance looked like red wine. Except, it was thicker than wine.

Hayley giggled again at the realization that Elijah had done the same thing she did and poured blood into wineglasses to try to make it romantic. It was weirdly sweet. She took the glass that he handed her. “Taking lessons from me, now?”

“It was a really cute gesture. I loved how you made even that romantic, and wanted to do the same thing. Do not make fun of me. Please. I don’t think my heart can take it. Not tonight.”

“I’m not making fun of you. I think it’s cute. And very sweet.” She took a sip of her blood. “Now, am I allowed to see the rest of what’s for dinner?”

Elijah finally sat down and lifted the domes off of their plates, revealing a delicious-looking seafood linguine dish. “I… I hope you like it.”

Hayley just shook her head. “Relax, would you? I’m sure I’ll love it.” She took a bite, and closed her eyes. “Mmm… This is delicious.” She opened her eyes to see Elijah staring at her. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Eat. Right. I should eat. Even if all I really want to do right now is watch you.”

Hayley rolled her eyes. “What am I going to do with you?”

The rest of the dinner was passed with flirty banter, and them occasionally feeding each other, rather than themselves. It wasn’t until they were done eating that Elijah brought a bottle of chilled champagne and two flutes to the table. But, he didn’t open the bottle. Instead, he looked suddenly extremely nervous.

“You asked what the rest of my plan was.” He took a deep breath, and suddenly he was on one knee in front of her, and her breath caught. “The rest of my plans involve the rest of our very long lives.

“Elijah…”

“Shh… Don’t… don’t say anything, yet. Please? Just hear me out. I… just don’t say anything, yet.”

There was something in the tone of his voice. It took Hayley a second to realize what it was. Fear. After everything they had been through together, the man was seriously afraid that she was going to say no. Tears pricked her eyes at the realization. She swallowed hard and nodded. “Okay.”

“I… I have loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you. The witches brought you out and… it was like I had a voice in my head telling me that I had just met the woman I was meant to spend the rest of my life with. And it terrified me. I’m not going to lie. And I ran from it. But, it was always there. I would look at you, and all I wanted was to take you into my arms and never let you go. I know that we’ve had our problems. And I know that most of that was my fault. I… we’ve both hurt each other, we can’t deny that. But, I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to spend forever with you. Longer than I was actually able to admit it to myself. But, all I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy. I… when we woke up, I bought that cabin. And I bought you a ring. And, I set up a date for us, and fully intended to propose. But, we got a bit distracted. Not that I’m complaining about that. But… after that, everything just got crazy. And I never got another chance. And then I threw it all away. And I would understand if you aren’t ready to forgive me. I would understand if you don’t trust me, right now. But, I promise you, Hayley. This time, it’s forever. I’m not going anywhere. I want to be standing with you in my arms when the stars burn out. I want to spend the rest of eternity trying to make it up to you for all the ways I’ve hurt you. I love you, Hayley Marshall. I love you with all of my heart. And I know that I’ve broken your heart into so many pieces. And I wouldn’t really blame you if you told me to go to Hell. But, I would really like an opportunity to put the pieces of your broken heart back together, again. I… Now I’m the one that’s talking in circles. I… I didn’t exactly plan a speech. I think I had one the first time, but… whatever it was, it’s probably not exactly appropriate. And…”

“Are you quite finished?” The look of pain on Elijah’s face broke Hayley’s heart. “Because I really am more than ready for you to stop talking and put that ring you say you have for me on my finger.”

“Is that…” He looked somehow both hopeful and afraid at the same time.

Hayley wiped her eyes. “You actually need me to say the words, don’t you? Yes. Yes, Elijah. Yes I will marry you. Now, seriously. Get up here and kiss me and give me my ring, already.”

**~The Path To Forever~**

Elijah was almost afraid to believe, even after Hayley actually said the word “yes”, he wasn’t sure he actually believed his own ears. She had forgiven him. Really forgiven him. And was ready to trust that this time he wasn’t going anywhere.

His hands shook as he reached into his pocket and pulled Hayley’s ring out and slipped it onto her finger. Then he stood up, pulling her up with him. He kissed her deeply, picking her up and spinning her around. They were engaged. They were actually going to get married. He wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

“We… we have phone calls to make. I need to call Hope. And we need to call your siblings. And… the wedding. How are we going to have a wedding without them? Oh my God! We’re getting married.”

Elijah laughed. “Slow down. I am under orders from our family — including your daughter — to not try to talk to them for the rest of the day. We can do video calls tomorrow. Hope is already planning to astral project in. She’s going to talk to Caroline once we have a date set about making arrangements for Niklaus and Rebekah. Kol is going to have Davina send him. They’ll be here. Maybe not quite the way we… I once dreamed our wedding would be, but they’ll be here. And we’ll have Josh and Freya, and your wolves. And probably Marcellus.”

“Wait! They knew? All of them?”

“Marcel always knew.” He picked up her left hand and kissed her ring. “This was what was in the package that he sent me. I gave it to him for safe keeping when I… when I left. I always hoped that someday Freya and Hope would fix this mess and Marcel would get me back. And that when that happened, you would forgive me. But, I called and had a group chat with my siblings this morning, after talking to Josh. And then I called Hope and… uh… asked her for permission.”

“You didn’t?” When Elijah nodded, Hayley laughed. “Did she laugh at you?”

“Yes. But, then she told me that we should do a video call with her tomorrow so she can see your ring. Umm… I guess this means that I’m going to have to go to Baton Rouge and start apartment hunting earlier than I planned on. Both your daughter and my sister are going to want to come attack you in person, I’m sure.”

Hayley just laughed harder. “You do know women. Yes. I’m sure they’re both going to want to come squeal at me in person. And, I’m going to want them here when I go dress shopping. Which… I can’t have both of them physically here, but Rebekah can fly in and Hope can astral project.” Her eyes were still shining with happiness, but there was a touch of sadness in them, too.

Which, Elijah understood. He pulled her into a hug. “Hey. I know that this isn’t everything you ever dreamed of. And if you want to just have a long engagement and wait until our family can be here, I will totally understand. We’re immortal, Hayley. I can wait as long as you need me to. I just… I wanted to ask. I needed you to know how much I love you and that I want to spend forever with you. The rest can wait, if that’s what you need.”

“I don’t… I mean… maybe have a bit of an actual engagement? Give me a chance to actually enjoy calling you my fiance? Not forever. But, a few months, at least? Start planning a real wedding. It might seem silly, but… I fully intend for this to be my last wedding, unless we renew our vows, someday. I want it to be perfect. Not some hastily thrown together thing.”

“Of course. We have a lot of planning to do. Whatever you need, Hayley. Whatever you want. But, figuring all of that out can wait. Tonight is for celebrating. Then tomorrow we tell our family. Then we work on getting the cabin set up. Start planning the parts of the wedding that can be planned without a date set. Or, we can put off planning for a bit, and just enjoy being engaged with no pressure about wedding dates and plans. We’ll figure the rest out later. Okay?”

Hayley smiled and kissed him softly. “I love you. So much. And yes. I think that getting the cabin set up and giving us a place to live maybe should come first. And then we can start planning the wedding and figuring out how that’s all going to work.” She gave him a seductive grin. “Now then. I believe you said something about celebrating?”

“Yes. Starting with a champagne toast. I… I want to do this right. As much as I also want to just carry you up to our bedroom and make love to you until the sun comes up. I… I want to do this right. I want for everything to be perfect.” He wasn’t sure why he was feeling so vulnerable. She had already agreed to marry him. She had forgiven him. And was trusting him to keep his promises, this time. And wanted to spend forever with him. But, still. There was a part of him that was worried. About what, he really didn’t even know. But, he was.

Hayley gave him a soft smile. “Everything  _is_ perfect. You poor, insecure, man. I promise. This is perfect. You are perfect. And I am so happy, right now. I… I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy. Not even when I got Hope back after we had to send her away. But, I guess that that was because…” She trailed off and looked down at that. 

Elijah knew what that was about. And, he knew that eventually, they were going to have to talk about Jackson and her first marriage. And everything that led to it and came from it. He wasn’t looking forward to that. And, it was the last thing he wanted to talk about, right now. So, he just reached over and lifted her chin with a finger. “Hey. No being sad, right now. You’ll give me a complex and make me wonder if you’re really happy about being engaged to me, or if you’re feeling trapped, again.”

She shook her head. “No. Not at all. I really am happy, Elijah. This… this is nothing like that. At all. I am not marrying you out of obligation, or because it’s expected of me. I’m marrying you because… like you said, I want to be standing in your arms when the stars burn out. I want this, Elijah. I want you. I love you.” She smiled. “Now then. I believe you said something about champagne?”

“Right.” Elijah pulled away from her just long enough to open the bottle of champagne and fill two flutes. He handed one to Hayley. “To the future. And to finally knowing that this time it’s forever.”

“To me finally becoming a Mikaelson for real, the way I have dreamed pretty much from the moment I laid eyes on you.”

They clinked their glasses together and drank. And then Elijah was through being patient. He swept Hayley into his arms. “And now for the rest of our celebration.”

“Yes. Definitely. I mean, we haven’t seen each other in seven years. We definitely need a lot of practice, I think.”

“Practice?”

“For our wedding night?”

Elijah laughed and carried Hayley up to their bedroom. He was still laughing when he laid her on their bed.

**~The Path To Forever~**

“Good morning.”

Hayley smiled up at Elijah. “Good morning. Mmm… I am not convinced that I didn’t dream last night.”

Elijah laughed. “Nope. Not a dream.” He picked up her left hand and ran his thumb over her engagement ring. “We definitely got engaged last night. Though, I’m still not entirely sure that I didn’t dream that you actually said yes.”

“Quite the pair, aren’t we?” She sighed and stretched. “Well, as much as I would love to continue celebrating, we should probably get dressed and start calling our family to tell them the news. If I know your sister, she’ll be calling us soon, otherwise. And never mind what she may be interrupting.”

Elijah sighed. “Yes. Rebekah doesn’t always have the most tact. And certainly is not possessing an over abundance of patience. So, as much as I hate it, we should definitely call them all. Though, Hope deserves to be first. She’s your daughter, after all. My siblings can all wait a few more minutes.”

Hayley nodded and sat up. “You know, this whole getting dressed thing might have been easier if I had moved my clothes in here. Actually, I’m going to go take a shower first.”

“Want some company?”

“Elijah… if you join me, we will not actually get clean. Also, we are supposed to be calling our family before your sister gets impatient and calls us.” She kissed him gently, then got out of bed. “I’ll be back in like ten minutes. Then we can make our video calls, then go out for breakfast and find Josh to tell him that it’s official.”

Elijah grumbled. “Fine. I guess you have a point. Go on, then.”

Hayley just laughed and shook her head then headed to her old room to shower, get dressed, and grabbed her laptop. When she went back to Elijah’s room, he was also dressed, and his damp hair indicated that he had taken a shower, too. “There. Now we’re clean, and dressed, and we can make our phone calls.”

“Starting with Hope. I was going to say that we should probably do Skype so that we both fit in the camera, but it looks like you had the same idea.”

Hayley nodded, then pulled her phone out and texted Hope that if she was available for a chat, they were going to Skype her. A minute later she got a text back saying that Hope was getting ready for her first class, but she certainly had a few minutes to chat.

Less than a minute after that, Hayley and Elijah were both looking at Hope’s excited face. “Well? Is it official?” She squealed as Hayley held up her left hand, showing off her ring. “Oh my God! That is gorgeous! Congratulations! Both of you. Have you set a date, yet?”

“Not yet. We’re kind of leaning towards a long engagement. I want to take a few months, at least. Plan as close to a real wedding as we can possibly have under the circumstances. And get our cabin set up so we have a place to live. I mean, we could just stay living at the compound after we get married, but…”

“But, you want a place of your own. Yeah. Aunt Freya told me about that, last night. It makes sense. What about things like dress shopping? I want to be there for that.”

“What I will probably do for that is have Aunt Rebekah fly in, and have you astral project. Just because you can project yourself and she would have to find someone to help her. So, for the sake of logistics, it makes more sense for her to be the one that’s physically here.”

“And I’ll go to Baton Rouge and apartment hunt. I’m going to need a place to go when you’re home, after all. It makes sense for me to start looking into that while you and Rebekah are taking turns attacking your mother. Kill two birds with one stone.”

“Yeah… God! I wish I was there and could hug you both. I… This whole situation sucks.”

“Yeah, it kind of does, baby girl. But, we’re doing the best we can with it. And it will still be a beautiful wedding, even if most of our family isn’t actually physically there. It’s going to be… maybe not everything we ever dreamed of, but close enough.” Hayley smirked. “I should actually pick up where Elijah left off and ask you to give me away.”

Hope rolled her eyes at that. “Isn’t that a bit backwards? I mean, obviously if you’re serious, I would be honored. But…”

“Well, if you think about it, the closest I really have to a male relative is your father. Who will be the best man. That kind of leaves you. Unless I ask Josh. But, as much as I love Josh, it actually makes more sense to have you do it.”

“All right. So, I’m giving the bride away. Dad is the best man. I’m guessing Aunt Freya will be the maid of honor. Who are you going to get to officiate? I mean, it would have to be someone that knows what we are. Especially with so many of the guests being astrally projected in.”

“We haven’t really thought about that. If it wasn’t for Bastiana we could have asked Father Kieran, but… obviously that isn’t an option. But, we have time to think about all of that. I really do want to enjoy being engaged for a while. It may seem silly, but…”

“It’s not silly. I mean, I’m surprised you want to wait. If I had been through the things the two of you have been through, I would want to just get married as soon as possible, just on principle.”

“Actually, she hasn’t said anything, but I think that what your mother wants is honestly just to have as close to normal as we can manage. Most people actually get engaged and then are just… engaged. For a while. They don’t even go straight into wedding planning mode. So, that’s what we’re doing. We’re just going to be engaged for a while.”

“Whatever works for the two of you. But, I should probably get to class. I’ll talk to you later. And don’t worry. I’ll definitely give you plenty of warning before I go home to attack you. I know that you need to get Uncle Elijah out of there. Anyway… Congratulations! I love you.”

**~The Path To forever~**

And then she was gone. Elijah just shook his head, and then started a group chat with his siblings. Which, of course, led to more squealing. This time from his sisters.

“Okay, I’m still mad at you that you didn’t consult me before buying that ring. Seriously, Elijah? Your original plan was to propose without telling anyone you were going to? Without asking me to help you pick out a ring? I shouldn’t forgive you for that.”

“I’m sorry, Rebekah. But, I wasn’t sure I could trust you to keep your mouth shut.”

“Is that comment supposed to make me less mad at you? Because if so, it is failing miserably. All right, then. Hayley, get your hand out of your lap. I want to see this ring I was not allowed to help pick out.” When Hayley obliged and held up her left hand, Rebekah squealed again. “Okay. You’re forgiven. It’s gorgeous. You apparently do have some taste, after all.”

“Of course he does. He’s marrying me, after all.”

Niklaus snorted at that. “Conceited much, Little Wolf?” Hayley stiffened at that and Niklaus swore. “Sorry, Hayley.” There was a pause. “No. You know what? I’m not sorry. You are always going to be my little wolf. That binding spell doesn’t change that. You will always be their queen. And you might as well get used to me calling you that. Because I’m not going to stop.”

“I know. It just… it’s hard, still. That wound is still pretty raw and painful.” She rolled her eyes when Elijah shifted. “I don’t mean a physical wound, Elijah. Considering there is literally not an inch of my body you haven’t seen very close up in the last few days, you should realize that.”

“Ew! I did not need to know that!”

“Says the man who kept teasing us while we were getting ready for him to come home.”

Rebekah laughed. “Enough! Can we get back to the matter at hand? Namely that Hayley is now sporting a very beautiful ring on her finger, which means that we have a wedding to plan. What are you going to do about wedding party?”

“I’ve asked Hope to give me away. And… Freya… I’d like you to be my maid of honor. Though… since we’re planning on a semi-long engagement, maybe you can finally get your head out of your butt and end up actually being my matron of honor.”

“We’ll see. I mean, obviously, I would be honored. The ‘we’ll see’ is about whether I’m a maid or a matron.” But, Freya was actually blushing, which Elijah found utterly adorable. He was definitely going to have to have a talk with her when she came home and try to speed this process up.

“And, obviously Niklaus, I would like you to be my best man.”

“I’d be honored, brother. Honestly, it’s about damn time.”

“What about the officiant? With so many of us only able to be there in spirit, so to speak, it would almost have to be someone who knows the truth. Unless you want to compel someone.”

Kol spoke for the first time, then. “I can do it. I’ve done it before. Okay, it was in like the twelfth century, but I can get ordained in that online church.”

“Really? I… thank you, Kol. That means a lot to me. Umm… listen… I definitely have plans to call you and Davina at some point. I have a lot I need to talk to you about…”

“Later. You have other things on your mind, right now. And I am the last one to try to tell you that you should focus on anything but Hayley. Finish getting yourself settled in, over there. Davina and I will be here when you’re ready to talk to us.”

“Enough! So, we have a bridal party. Now we need a date and a venue, and…”

“And, for you to slow down. Seriously. We want a long engagement. I want to enjoy this stage for a while. We’ll work out the rest, later.”

“Fine! Show me that ring, again!” Not surprisingly, Rebekah squealed again when Hayley held up her hand again, this time a bit closer to the camera. “I want one! Somebody needs to get me one.”

“I seem to recall that Marcel tried to give you one, and you turned him down. So, maybe you should go find him and tell him that you’ve changed your mind. Knowing him, he’d probably jump at it and have you at the courthouse before you have time to blink.”

Rebekah bit her lip and looked down. “Maybe some day. But… this is not the time to discuss my issues. Right now, we are supposed to be celebrating Hayley and Elijah’s engagement.”

Elijah laughed. “Well, I’m pretty sure that it’s my job as the family patriarch to get on the rest of you about fixing your lives. Especially now that I’m finally getting my own in order.”

“Last time I checked, I was the oldest.”

“Yes. But, since you are part of the problem, that leaves it up to me to fix it. Besides, I really have shirked my duties to this family long enough. It’s past time I took that mantle back up.”

Freya rolled her eyes, but didn’t comment.

They all chatted for a bit longer. But, eventually they ended the call, after a ridiculously long round of “I love you”s.

Elijah closed the laptop and set it on his nightstand, then looked at Hayley, who had tears in her eyes. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really. Just… I miss them… And I can’t even imagine what it’s like for you. And… I have you back. And I’m thrilled. I am so happy.” She lifted her hand to look at her ring. “We’re getting married. Which is, if I’m being honest, what I’ve wanted more than anything for damn near sixteen years. But… our family can’t even be there. Not really. We’re getting married, and you still have to look for an apartment in another city for when my daughter comes home to see me. And it isn’t fair.” She wiped at her eyes. “And you? Literally the only member of your own family that you can be in the same city as is Freya. Hope and I… we took your entire family away from you. From all of you. The sacrifice you all made to save her is… I can’t even imagine it.”

“Hey… Don’t. Hayley, don’t. Yes, this is hard. Not being able to be in the same city as any of my siblings is hard. Getting ready to marry you knowing that I can never be in the same city as your daughter is hard. Having to look for a place to live in another city for when Hope comes home is hard. Knowing that I will be forced to be separated from my wife for weeks at a time so that she can spend time with her daughter is hard. But, what was the alternative, Hayley? Let the Hollow have Hope? At best, it would have killed her, which was not something any of us were willing to let happen. At worst, that… _thing_ … having access to Hope’s abilities as well as her own would have wiped out all of New Orleans. Or even worse than that. We made the choice, Hayley. And even with everything it cost me and is going to continue costing me, I would make that same choice, again. There isn’t one of us that wouldn’t. We all love that girl. Sacrificing our ability to be near each other, to give her a chance to grow up and have the life we all dreamed of for her was a small price to pay. Even this, the amount of time I’ll have to spend away from you… if this is the price I have to pay to someday dance at Hope’s wedding, and watch you and Niklaus dote over grandchildren, then so be it. We’ll make this work, Hayley. It’ll be hard, but it is worth it. She is worth it.”

“Yeah… But, if damn near any other woman in the world was her mother…”

Elijah sighed and picked up Hayley’s left hand and ran his thumb over her ring. “Then you and I would never have met. And I wouldn’t take that back for anything. I love you, Hayley. And I love Hope. And if this long distance mess with my siblings is what it takes to have the two of you in my life, then so be it. Ask the others if they ever wish Hope hadn’t been born. You really think that Niklaus would give her up for anything in the world? Nor would Rebekah, or even Kol.” He shrugged. “Granted, in Kol’s case, I’m not sure that it was much of a loss. We caused that man more trouble than we were worth, anyway.”

Hayley gave a broken laugh at that. “I suppose you’re right. It just hurts so much. And it’s made worse by the fact that after everything you have all been through for the past thousand years, it was… it was  _me_ that finally tore you apart. Klaus daggered all of you practically on a whim. Killed every man that had the misfortune to fall in love with Rebekah. Kol spent more time in a coffin than out of it. And you all always came back from it. You killed Klaus’s adopted son in front of him. And you came back from it. I just hate that I ended up being the cause of the one thing that you couldn’t come back from.”

Elijah sighed and put his arms around Hayley. He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. “No. Don’t do this to yourself. None of this is your fault. You didn’t ask for any of this. And, it isn’t as insurmountable as you’re making it sound, anyway. A hundred years ago, it would have been. But, now? We just got off of a video call with all of them. We haven’t lost each other, Hayley. We can’t be in the same city, but we aren’t lost to each other. We can call each other. We can have video chats. We haven’t really lost anything. And when I think of everything we gained… You, Hope… Honestly, we get along better now than we did in the past. Probably because we don’t have time to get on each others’ last nerve. Even if the worst happens, and we are never able to be in the same city, again… we came back from it, Hayley. We’re going to be okay. No, it’s not the same, but we’re still a family in every way that matters. You did not tear us apart. Not in any way that counts. And none of us would have this any other way. We all love you. We all love Hope. And we are all grateful to have you. So, please… don’t do this to yourself. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. I promise you. It is going to be okay.”

Hayley nodded against his chest, but her body was still being wracked by sobs. So, he just held her while she cried for everything they had all given up to protect each other. For the sacrifices that always seemed to come with being a Mikaelson.  
  
  


  
  



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